


Poking Around

by Mythological_Compendium, reapingwithjoy



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Blow Jobs, Blow Jobs in a Car, Come Swallowing, F/M, First Time Blow Jobs, Frottage, Library Sex, M/M, Masturbation, Mild Blood, Mutual Masturbation, Older Stiles Stilinski, Oral Sex, Past Child Abuse, Phone Sex, Porn With Plot, Protective Laura Hale, Public Blow Jobs, Public Sex, Road Head, Semi-Public Sex, Younger!Derek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-13
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-01-15 14:59:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 26,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1309087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mythological_Compendium/pseuds/Mythological_Compendium, https://archiveofourown.org/users/reapingwithjoy/pseuds/reapingwithjoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I was just really surprised that no one wrote a fic named 'Poking Around'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Camaro

**Author's Note:**

  * For [reapingwithjoy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/reapingwithjoy/gifts).



Derek had just walked out of the school building when he sees it: an imperial blue Chevy Camaro that had definitely never sat in the Beacon Hills High School parking lot before. He approaches it and makes his way around it once, admiring the shine of the sun bouncing off its smooth surface. He moves to the window so he can see the interior, careful not to let his breath leave a mark on the glass.

“Can I help you with something?"

Derek jumps back at the sound of a voice he doesn’t recognise and he looks up to see a guy, probably not much older than himself, wearing a leather jacket standing by the hood of the car.

Derek clears his throat and he stands straight up like his father taught him.

“Sorry, I was just checking out your car," he says.

He tilts his head, folding his arms over his chest. “How’d you know it’s my car?”

 _Your scent’s all over it_. Derek shrugs. “Lucky guess.”

He’s fixed with a wary stare before the boy smirks, making it feel like something goopy is sliding into Derek’s belly.

“You like it?" He asks.

"Yeah," Derek grins, looking between the Camaro and its owner. "These cars are awesome. Think I might try to convince my dad to let me get one."

He smiles as he reaches out his hand to Derek. “I’m Stiles. I just transferred here.”

Derek grasps his hand and shakes it, also supplying his name and a “Nice to meet you.”

Stiles keeps hold of Derek’s hand as he lets his eyes quickly run over him. A slow blush rises on Derek’s cheeks and he pulls his hand away to readjust his book bag on his shoulders.

"Beacon Hills is great," he says, watching Stiles reach into his pocket to pull out a small keychain. "You'll love it here."

“I like it already.” He says, turning to unlock his Camaro and Derek can see that there’s another smirk on Stiles’ face. “I’d offer you a ride but I really have to get home. You don’t mind, do you?”

Derek scoffs and shakes his head. “I’m fine walking. Thanks though.”

That earns him a laugh and another glob in his stomach as Stiles climbs in behind the wheel and closes the door. “See you around.” He says with a little wave as he pulls out of the parking lot.

Derek watches until the car moves out of his vision before starting home.

\-----

They see each other in the hallways a lot since then and Derek isn’t sure how he hadn’t noticed Stiles in the previous three weeks since school started. It’s always with a quick wave or nod of the head, sometimes it’s a wink from Stiles and a little smile from Derek. Occasionally, Stiles would come over and make small talk with Derek while he was at his locker or sit with him at lunch on the days that he decided to “suffer through the shitty school food”.

He learns that Stiles is a senior, two years above Derek even though there's only a 13-month age gap between them. "I'm a genius, dude." He said as he stole a chicken nugget from Derek's unguarded lunch tray. Stiles is originally from New York—“Go Mets!”—but his dad grew up in Beacon Hills so they decided to move back after a few…misunderstandings at his old private school. Derek had arched an eyebrow but Stiles ignored his unasked question. He didn’t even tell Derek which school it was.

In turn, Derek tells Stiles about his parents, his two sisters, and his uncle who occasionally visits them when he’s bored and wants someone to bother. He learns that Derek is top of his class despite also being the captain of the school basketball team and a full-time babysitter for his sister Cora.

Stiles already has most of the credits he needs to graduate—"Told you. Genius."—so he’s only taking three classes this semester and next, but he fills his schedule volunteering his time to any teachers that need a little help. So he makes fliers for clubs, sets up AV equipment and labs, along with anything else they need him to do.

“I hate it but at least it gives me something to do other than sit on my ass at home.”

Plus he gets to see Derek, or rather, Derek gets to see him.

Like yesterday when Stiles was setting up for their Biology lab while Mr Lahey was taking the roll. Paige had nudged him when she noticed him staring so he stuck his eyes to his desk until Stiles left the classroom. She’s been bugging him about it ever since.

“Why don’t you just admit that you like him?” She sings, walking behind him through the hallway as he heads for his locker.

“I don’t.” Derek replies simply.

She rolls her eyes. “You’re a bad liar.”

“I’m a _great_ liar.” He flashes her a tight smile.

“Right. Derek Hale, the one human being who doesn’t like a man in a leather jacket.” She steps in front of him when he reaches for his locker. “If you say it, I’ll stop bothering you.”

“There’s nothing to say except please move so I can get my books.”

She scoffs and rolls her head against the locker then gasps softly. “Here he comes.”

Derek forces himself not to look until he hears Stiles’ heartbeat coming closer. Paige grins when Stiles claps Derek on the shoulder and giggles when Derek turns to give Stiles what she later describes as a dopey smile.

“Sure _Der_ ,” She stresses the nickname she knows he hates, “You don’t like him at all.” then moves away from his locker and steps across the hallway to her own.

Derek grumbles something to himself about needing less observant friends as he pulls open his locker.

\-----

At dinner, Laura tells their parents that she would be taking Derek bowling later. He shoots her a look of confusion and she responds with a sweet smile. His parents agree without deliberation because they’re too tired lately from taking care of Cora to give it much consideration.

Sure enough, they arrive at the bowling alley and Camden Lahey is there waiting. Derek isn’t too thrilled that his sister had dragged him along to be the third wheel when she could have just as easily dropped him off at the library or something. His time would be much better spent there.

Derek agreed to play with them at first but opted out of a second game because they would start making out on the bench every time it was his turn. So here he sits with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face watching his sister pretend she doesn’t have a werewolf’s acute sight and precision aim that can take down every pin on every attempt. He decides enough is enough when Laura throws the ball into the gutter on purpose for the third time in a row even though Camden is already losing.

“I’m going outside.” He says when she comes back to pick up her bowling ball.

“Alright, we’re almost done.” Laura smiles. “Wanna get some ice-cream after this?”

Derek purses his lips. “I’ll think about it.”

Laura nods. “Mmkay.”

He is out taking a deep breath of the crisp night air in no time.

Something out of the corner of his eye catches his attention: A black leather jacket and black jeans heading away from the adjacent ice-cream parlour and toward a blue car. Derek smiles.

Stiles is across the parking lot and much closer to the car but Derek makes it over there before he does. He ducks around the side where Stiles can’t see him then slowly walks behind the Camaro. He notices the little cup of ice-cream that Stiles carries in his hand and waits until he places it steadily on the roof of the car before standing and saying,

“Hey.”

“Oh my God!” Stiles’ heart rate jumps and he almost leaps out of his shoes. “Derek? Where the hell’d you come from?”

“Bowling.” Derek points to the large flashing bowling pins on top of the building he just exited.

Stiles puts his hand on his chest. “You scared the crap outta me.”

Derek giggles. “Sorry.”

“It’s not funny dude, I coulda died.” Stiles smacks him lightly on the arm.

Derek places his hand over the place Stiles hit and laughs. “I’ll make it up to you.”

Stiles shakes his head. “You better.”

Derek’s smile drops from his face and he clears his throat. “Can I ask you a favour?”

Stiles narrows his eyes at him for a moment then says, “Sure.”

“Can you take me home?”

He arches an eyebrow much like he’s seen Derek do countless times since they met. “I thought you were bowling.”

Derek shrugs. “I came with my sister and her friend but they're having way more fun than I am.”

“I know how _that_ feels.” Stiles says then matches Derek’s shrug as he picks up his apparently empty cup of ice-cream. “Hop in.”

Laura is standing before him by the time Derek moves around to the other side of the car.

"Who is this?” She asks, placing a hand on the back of his neck and turning to glare at Stiles who is gazing back, wide-eyed, between the two of them.

“He’s a friend from school.” Derek says. “I met him a few weeks ago.”

Laura holds her glare. “ _I’ve_ never seen him before.”

“He’s new in town.” He can hear a growl building in his sister’s chest and he takes her other hand to pull away her attention. “I just wanna go home.” He says. “Being here right now isn’t exactly fun for me.”

Laura frowns then glances at Stiles before turning back to Derek. “If you need anything...”

Derek nods. “I know what to do.”

She releases him and steps away as he climbs into the car.

Stiles clears his throat and waves. “I’ll make sure he gets home okay.”

Laura says nothing back so he climbs into the car too. He sees her watching in the side-view mirror until they drive away from the parking lot.

“Well,” Stiles says. “That was _terrifying_.”

Derek turns his grin toward the window.

Stiles sighs as he turns a corner. “I'm assuming that's Laura, so…where’s Cora?”

“At home crying.” He laughs when Stiles shoots him a concerned look. “She’s teething.”

“Oh,” Stiles exaggerates a shudder. “I remember when my baby cousin was teething. God, no one could sleep for like a week.”

 _Try being part of a pack and_ feeling _the pain on top of having to deal with the crying_. “Yeah, it sucks.”

The rest of the drive consists of Derek giving Stiles directions to the school bus drop-off point nearest to his house. His parents told him never ever to disclose the exact location of their home.

Derek points to the large yellow sign that reads ‘School Bus Turnaround’ and Stiles pulls up next to it.

He thanks Stiles for the ride but instead of getting out, Derek just sits there looking into the trees. He can see his house lights are on, hear Cora still wailing, feel his father’s weariness and smell his mother making the balm to put on Cora's fangs.

“You alright?” Stiles’ voice brings him back from his house.

Derek shifts in the seat and looks down at his hands in his lap. “Yeah.”

“Are you sure?”

“Uh huh.” He looks up at Stiles now. “I should go help my parents with the baby.”

Stiles nods and drums his fingers on the dashboard. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Derek thanks him again as he reaches to pull the door handle but it’s stuck. He looks back at Stiles who furrows his brow in confusion before pressing the button to unlock the doors. All the doors click but when Derek tries again, he still can’t open it.

“Figures,” Stiles sighs as he unlocks his seatbelt. “The first ride you take in my car and the door malfunctions.” He reaches across Derek to find the door handle and tries it himself.

Derek’s breath catches in his throat.

“Maybe there’s something caught in it.” Stiles jerks the handle and still nothing. “I’ll get out and see if it opens from the other side.”

Derek closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, inhaling Stiles’ scent despite already being saturated in it from sitting so long inside the car.

“Dude…did you just sniff me?”

Derek’s eyes shoot open to find Stiles staring back at him. The closeness of their faces makes Derek’s heart thump faster.

He exhales onto Stiles’ lips. “No.”

Stiles smirks. “You definitely sniffed me.”

“I didn’t mean to.” Derek disputes.

Stiles glances down at Derek’s lips, he doesn’t even try to hide it just blatantly stares, then licks his own.

It might be the intimacy of being in a dark, sexy car in the dead of night at the edge of the woods but Derek thinks he smells arousal on Stiles.

He still doesn’t see it coming when Stiles presses their lips together.

The kiss ends quickly and Derek chases Stiles’ lips when he pulls back.

Stiles smiles and reaches under Derek to pull the lever that drops the seat backwards. “Is this okay?” He asks as he climbs on top of Derek.

Derek nods as he runs his fingers through Stiles’ hair. Stiles kisses him lightly on the lips then down to his neck as he puts his hand under Derek’s shirt and pulls it up to let his hand rest against Derek’s side. They kiss slowly, Stiles letting his tongue swipe through Derek’s mouth while he pushes his thigh between Derek’s to press against his crotch. Derek pulls away to catch a breath so Stiles takes the opportunity to lean down and lick his chest, sending shivers through the young wolf’s body. A soft cry breaks from his lips when Stiles prods the tip of his tongue over a nipple.

He stops to look Derek in the eyes. “Have you ever done this?” Stiles reaches between them and Derek moans as Stiles rubs his palm over the erection through his jeans.

Derek shakes his head. “No.”

Stiles furrows his brow. “Not even to yourself?”

Another shake of the head, this one slower.

Stiles scoffs, “You’re a bad liar.” as he scoots backward a little to tug Derek’s zipper.

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" He wonders aloud and makes Stiles laugh hard enough to jostle the car seat.

Derek’s face would flush if his blood wasn’t either pounding in his ears or rushing to his cock.

Stiles bites his lower lip to stall his laughter as he slides his fingers under the waistband of Derek’s jeans and underwear to pull them down to mid-thigh. He grasps Derek’s erection and rubs his index finger over the tender skin of the head, feeling the wetness gathered there. He licks his lips then drops kisses all along the length and back up again. Derek says nonsense in a breathy whisper when Stiles slides his lips over him.

He hears Stiles sigh contentedly after taking him in and the wet heat of Stiles’ throat makes a shudder roll through him. He looks down his body to see just as Stiles looks back up at him before quickly starting to bob his head and dragging a yell from Derek’s throat when his orgasm hits him.

Derek arches his back and cries out, his whole body shaking as Stiles gives him one last slow suck before letting him slip out with a slurp.

Stiles moves to lean over him, getting close enough for Derek to feel his breath on his lips. His hand continues to stroke like he wants to milk Derek of everything he has.

Derek gasps and squirms when he spills more. He sees Stiles bring the soiled hand up to his mouth to lick his fingers clean. He closes his eyes like he’s savouring the taste then licks his lips and moves away from Derek again.

“Lift your hips up.” He says and Derek does as instructed as Stiles pulls his jeans back up around his waist.

He watches as Stiles does up his zipper again then pulls his shirt down. Stiles wipes his mouth on the sleeve of his jacket before leaning in for a closed-lipped kiss.

“It’s late,” Stiles says softly, his lips still barely brushing against Derek’s. “You should be getting home.”

Derek nods but then buries his fingers in Stiles’ hair and pulls him down to join their lips again.

Stiles grins against Derek’s mouth. “C’mon your sister probably called so your parents must be worried.”

“Just a little bit longer.” Derek argues. “Don’t you need me to—”

Stiles shakes his head and brushes his thumb over Derek’s lips silence him. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow.” He whispers as he kisses Derek lightly then moves to climb out of the car through the driver’s side door.

Derek puts the seat upright again and watches as Stiles walks around to his side of the car and, after some hardship, manages to yank the door open.

“I need to get that checked out.” Stiles mumbles as he scratches the back of his head. “Dunno why it’s doing that.”

Derek wraps his arms over Stiles’ shoulders and presses their lips together then just as quickly parts them. “Good night.” He says.

“Night.” Stiles gives him a crooked smile. “Be safe!” Stiles calls out when Derek starts into the dark woods. “It looks sketchy in there.”

Derek shakes his head then turns to give Stiles a salute. “I will.”


	2. Library

Derek jerks awake when his head slides off his knuckles. He blinks at the harsh light buzzing overhead as he looks around, vaguely remembering sitting down in the library during a free period to flip through his history textbook when he fell asleep. He rubs a hand over his face and smacks his cheeks lightly, trying to wake himself up properly. He sighs and looks down at the textbook again, immediately feeling his eyelids start to droop as he scans over the page.

A particular scent wraps around him and Derek smiles a little in his sleep.

Something abruptly falls onto the table and he startles, eyes flashing and seeking out danger. Someone’s sitting down in the chair next to his and it takes him a second to realise that it’s Stiles, who had just dropped his book bag in front of Derek.

“Dude, you’re drooling all over the Industrial Revolution.” He says.

Derek wipes his mouth and stares at the words on the page again. “Shut up.”

“Didn’t you get any sleep last night?”

He’d gotten plenty of sleep. Last night, he took a page out of Laura's book and told his parents he was going out with a friend then spent an hour and a half in the Camaro making out and heavy petting with Stiles in a deserted parking lot. He crashed practically as soon as he got back into his room; slept like a log.

“No I slept fine.” He says.  
 ****

“Just bored then?” Stiles nods. “History’ll do that to you.”

“Hey, don’t talk shit about History.” Derek snaps and Stiles smiles. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“I’m s'posed to be helping out Miss Gail today.” He turns and looks over his shoulder to where the librarian usually sits but the seat is empty. “Restocking shelves or whatever fun stuff she needs me to do.” He reaches out to let his fingertips brush Derek’s sleeve. “When’s your next class?”

“After lunch.” He flips a page though he didn’t finish reading the previous one.

Stiles hums. “Wanna go grab something?” He puts his other hand over his belly. “I’ve been craving curly fries all week.”

Derek scoffs. “It’s Tuesday.”

“And can you believe I still haven’t had curly fries?” He gestures wildly with his arms. “What’s the world coming to?”

“Mr Stilinski.”

He turns to see Mrs Gail standing before the checkout counter again.

“Gotta go.” Stiles says, standing to remove his jacket and sending a billow of his scent into Derek’s face when he drops it on top of his book bag. “Mind if I leave that here?” He asks, gesturing to his things as he rolls his sleeves up his arms.

Derek shrugs. “Yeah it’s fine.”

“Sweet.” He leans down quickly and leaves a kiss on Derek’s lips before walking away.

Derek smiles and licks his lips, chasing Stiles’ taste as he turns back to his book again.

\-----

Stiles is mostly quiet when he moves through the aisles, his breathing steady and his heartbeat only stuttering whenever he finds a book he recognises and starts flipping through it momentarily. But every now and then, he’ll huff and complain about “kids who don’t put the damn books back in the right place” and Derek has to cover his mouth to stall the snorting before Mrs Gail puts him out. She’s been glaring at him over the rims of her glasses.

“How the—” Stiles suddenly exclaims though not loud enough to be heard by anyone but Derek.

He steps out from behind one of the shelves, a book in hand, and then disappears behind another. Derek hears a book sliding into place on the shelf before Stiles sighs. His heart rate jumps a second before footsteps move to the edge of the bookshelf and Stiles pokes his head out from behind it.

“Derek!” he whispers, then glances at Mrs Gail who purses her lips at him. He smiles sweetly at her while his hand beckons.

Derek marks his page then gets up to move to where Stiles is standing.

"What?"

He’s taken by the hand and lead toward the back wall of the library.

"Stiles wh—?"

"Sh."

He holds Derek’s upper arms and positions him against the end of the shelf, where he can see Derek's chair but not Mrs Gail.

When Derek is, apparently, lined up perfectly, Stiles smirks and wiggles his eyebrows. "Y'know what I've always wanted to try?" he whispers.

Derek raises his eyebrows and Stiles grins before leaning in to kiss him. Derek goes with it for a second until he realises where this is going, then pushes at Stiles' arms ‘til their lips part.

"Seriously?!" The scandalized tone in Derek's voice makes Stiles laugh softly. “You’re supposed to be working.”

“I’m done.” He grins and reaches between them to pull at Derek's belt. “The books are all put away. There wasn’t that many to begin with and we’ve got…” He sticks his head out to check the clock above the door. “…six minutes before the bell rings.” He slips his hand into the front of Derek’s jeans, finds him hard despite the complaining. “Think I can get you off in five?”

"What if we get caught?" Derek glances around as he spreads his legs wider. “Someone might come in or—” He gasps when Stiles brushes his thumb over his tip through his underwear. “—or Miss Gail might come looking for us.”

Stiles presses their foreheads together. “She’s too busy with her romance novel to care what’s going on over here.” He breathes heat onto Derek’s lips. “You’ve just gotta stay absolutely quiet for me, okay?”

Derek nods and Stiles pushes their lips together again as he tugs the jeans down Derek’s hips. They fall to the floor and Derek’s belt buckle hits the tile with a clatter. They both freeze. Derek waits to make sure he doesn’t hear any movement then he grabs Stiles by the nape of his neck to bring their lips back together.

Stiles breaks the kiss and drops to his knees. “We’ve only got three minutes now.” He finds the hole in Derek’s boxers and reaches in to take Derek in his hand.

A girl walks in just as Stiles gets his lips around Derek’s tip and he bangs his head against the shelf. He watches Stiles take him deeper and start bobbing his head. Derek arches his hips toward Stiles and ends up bumping the back of his throat on the intake. Stiles groans and the vibrations make Derek’s breath hitch. He bites his lip to stop himself from moaning aloud.

He slides out with a slick sound and Stiles whispers softly, “Oh my God,” before leaning down to suck one of Derek’s balls into his mouth as he keeps stroking the shaft. Derek notices Stiles’ other arm working and his eyes track down to where Stiles has a hand in his own jeans, stroking himself to the same rhythm that he does Derek.

“Stiles.” Derek's whimpers, knees shaking.

He immediately moves back to Derek’s shaft, letting his tongue flick against the tip until Derek’s thighs burn. Their eyes meet when Stiles slides his lips over Derek’s head again, barely sucking at it before pulling off.

“C’mon big guy.” he says then wraps his mouth around him again but this time he stays still, just pushes his hands under Derek’s shirt to hold his hips and moves them slightly.

Derek takes the hint and starts thrusting. His hips sling, causing a sloppy noise that he isn’t sure Mrs Gail can’t hear. His orgasm knocks a yell out of him that he has to cover with his fist between his teeth.

Stiles’ eyes flutter when Derek releases into his mouth and he hears the groan stifled on his cock.

The bell goes off and Derek jumps, forgetting where he was as the smell of Stiles’ cum wafts to his nose. Stiles slides him out and laughs as he stands.

“Told you so.” He grins as he pulls up his zipper. “It’s like my super power.”

Derek shakes head, smiling tiredly because he’s post-coital. “ _What_?”

Stiles laughs again, harder, and it’s the first time they get a reprimand from Mrs Gail. The boys snicker.

They emerge from behind the shelves after Derek makes sure Stiles didn’t stain himself and walk to the desk that holds their things.

“All done here, Miss Gail.” Stiles calls he pulls his jacket back on.

“Oh,” She looks up from her book and waves. “Thank you so much Stiles.”

“Uh, the trolley’s back there somewhere.” He gestures in the general direction of that half of the library.

“That’s fine,” she says. “Have a good day gentlemen.”

“You too.” They reply in unison before walking out the door.

“Curly fries sound really good right now.” Derek declares as he and Stiles head for the front doors.

Stiles pats his belly. “I dunno man, I don’t think I could eat another bite.”

Derek rolls his eyes and shoves Stiles’ shoulder. 

“No really, you’re like a four course meal.”

Derek doesn’t hide his smile when Stiles throws his arm over his shoulder.

"D’yu think it’s against school rules to give someone a blowjie in the library?"

Derek scoffs. “You’re ridiculous.”

“You love it.”

Stiles cards his fingers through Derek’s hair then pushes at his head, throwing him off balance a little before running out to the parking lot with Derek hot on his heels.


	3. Phone Call

“Someone’s been calling you.” Laura announces as she walks into the kitchen and drops Derek’s phone on the counter next to him before stepping over to the fridge.

He reaches out with the hand not cradling Cora and sees two missed calls from his Chemistry lab partner.

“What time is it?” He asks.

“Almost midnight.” Laura takes the seat next to him, setting down her glass of water with one hand and brushing the other through Cora’s hair. “You're being quiet tonight.”

Derek nods as he one-handedly sends his lab partner a text to say he’s sorry and that he’ll explain himself tomorrow.

“Maybe all her teeth finally came in.” He remarks as he sets the phone down again.

“Well, let’s see.” Laura takes Cora from Derek’s arms and into her lap. She pulls gently on Cora’s chin to open her mouth.

“You don’t wanna do that.” Their father says from the bottom of the stairs. “I stuck my finger in Laura’s mouth once when she was a pup and she almost bit it clean off.”

Laura scoffs at the older wolf's claim. “Yeah? Show me the scar.”

Their dad shakes his head as he walks over to take Cora. “It’s time for bed.” He says. “If your mother comes home and sees you awake, she’ll skin me.” He bumps the back of Derek’s chair with his hip. “You too.”

“Should we really be talking about bodily harm this much around the baby?” Laura asks.

“She should know.” Derek says as he gets up and pushes the chair in. “I mean, she did almost maim you.”

Laura nods.

“You make a fine point.” He says, lips against Cora’s head and free hand grasping Derek’s shoulder to aim him for the stairs.

\-----

Derek rubs a towel through his wet hair as he steps back into his bedroom. He drops it into his hamper then turns out the light before dropping backwards onto his pillow. He lays there in the darkness for a minute then picks up his phone and dials Stiles’ number.

He answers on the second ring. “Hey.”

“Still up?”

“Yeah.”

Derek can hear Stiles’ fingers tapping away on a keyboard. “Wacha workin’ on?”

“Finally submitting this stupid AP English paper. One second.” After a minute, there’s a loud click and Stiles sighs, “Done,” before there’s a rustling and Stiles saying. “What are _you_ doing up?”

“I’m _about_ to go to bed.”

Stiles chuckles. “You thought you’d give me a call first?”

“Is that so bad?”

“No,” There’s more rustling. “No, I was thinking about you earlier actually.”

Derek furrows his brows. “What about me?”

“Random stuff…the way your hair smells and your smile…that look you get on your face when you’re about to come.” Stiles giggles. “Random stuff.”

Derek gulps. “And what were you doing when you were thinking about this _random stuff_?"

“I’m sure you can guess.”

Derek goes silent for a moment, listening to Stiles’ breathing.

“Are you doing it again right now?”

Stiles scoffs, “I'm not a pervert.” He takes a deep breath. “But…I wouldn’t be adverse to it if you joined me.”

Derek considers the three adult werewolves in his house. “I’m good.” He says then clears his throat. “But you go ahead…I’ll just listen.”

“Suit yourself.”

Even more rustling comes from the other end and Derek imagines it as the sound of Stiles undressing. He waits until it stops and Stiles sighs.

There’s nothing for a moment but the sound of Stiles’ slow breathing and Derek contemplates asking if he fell asleep when he hears Stiles moan and bolts run into his cock, causing him to shift his hips, when he realises that he had no idea what Stiles sounded like. Every time they’d been together Stiles had had his mouth full.

Derek shifts into a more comfortable position and listens intently, memorising Stiles’ heavy breathing, the little moans he lets out every now and then with something that sounds like words.

“Stiles…” He didn’t realise he had said anything until he is answered with a whimpered,

“ _Fuck_!” and the sound of Stiles’ bed protesting before he whines, “I’m gonna come.”

Derek quickly slides his other hand under the waist of his pyjamas and his hips jerk when he gets hold of himself. There was no gentleness in the way Derek stroked his length but he didn’t need gentleness, he just needs to meet Stiles at the finish line.

A drawn-out groan signals Stiles’ orgasm and Derek bites his lip when he feels his own release coming at the image of Stiles’ eyes fluttering as he commits that sound to memory as well. The soft sob at the end of the groan is what finally pushed Derek to release into his palm with a soft cry.

He hears Stiles breathy chuckle. “Did you make a mess?”

Derek is nodding before he remembers he’s on the phone. “Yeah.”

Stiles moans again. “Wish I was there to clean you up.”

Derek whimpers and gives himself another stroke. “Me too.”

The sound of knuckles rapping at his door jolts Derek upright and he scrambles to pull the blankets over his lower body. He clears his throat and says, “Come in.”

The door opens with Laura in the frame.

“Mom said your heartbeat was erratic so she sent me to check on you.” She says, leaning against the doorjamb. “You okay?”

He nods. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine. It was just a bad dream.”

“Kay,” She pushes herself off of the wall and closes the door.

He groans and drops back onto his pillow where he can hear a faint snicker come from his phone.

“It’s not funny.” He says as he puts it back to his ear.

“Was that your mom?”

“It was Laura.”

“Did she see anything?”

“No.” Derek drags himself out of bed to find a fresh pair of underwear. “Stiles, I gotta go…” He checks to see if the hall light is still off. “I need to take another shower.”

Stiles tsks. “What a waste.”

Derek smiles. “Night.”

“Good night big guy.”


	4. Dressing-Up

Paige groans as she sits heavily on the bench next to Derek. “I can't decide." She sighs, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands. "Who knew there'd be so many choices for bathing suits?"

His phone starts buzzing on the seat between them and he glances down at it to see Stiles’ name flashing across the screen with a little phone dancing underneath it.

“Why not wear one that you already own?” He asks.

She scowls at him before letting her eyes scan the area and then she stands up again. “I’m just gonna grab the ones that I like the most.”

He nods and picks up his phone, flicking it open as soon as she walks off. “Hey, sorry.”

Stiles’ voice comes in from the other side. “Dude, I’ve been waiting for like twenty minutes, what are you doing up there?”

“What?” Derek frowns. “What are you talking about? I’m at the mall with Paige.”

“The Mall?” Stiles sighs. “You forgot.”

“Obviously.”

"Our plans to hang out today...”

“Oh my god.” Derek wipes a hand down his face when he remembers. “Stiles, I’m so sorry, I’m-I-She caught me after school and we came straight here and it completely slipped my mind.”

Stiles laughs softly and Derek hears the jingling of keys then the sound of Stiles’ Camaro starting. “It's okay, we could still hang out. When do you think you’ll be done?”

“Uh,” Derek looks up but Paige is nowhere in sight. “I dunno, she’s having some trouble making a decision.”

There is a pause before Stiles says, “Okay, well let me know.”

“Yeah.” Derek says then hangs up.

A barrage of hangers and bathing suits dropping onto the seat startles Derek and he drops his phone.

“Who was that?” Paige asks, straddling the bench so there’s more room.

Derek clears his throat. “Stiles.”

“Ah,” She nods. “How _is_ the boyfriend?”

The corner of Derek’s mouth twitches a little at the title. “He’s fine.” He reaches down to get his phone. “We were supposed to hang out today but I forgot.”

Paige sucks in a breath through her teeth. “He mad?”

Derek shrugs. “He didn't say...”

She makes a sound that he isn’t sure means she understands his predicament or if she decided to go with the floral two-piece she holds between them.

“Ask him to come hang out with us.” She says.

Derek blinks. “Seriously?”

The three of them had never spent time together as a group before and Paige certainly showed no indication of wanting to get to know Stiles outside of what Derek has told her.

“Yup.” She tosses the two-piece haphazardly over a rack behind her and picks up a green and white polka-dotted one. “And even if he’s of just as little use as you are, he can just give you a handjob in the family bathroom or something.”

He scoffs and opens his phone to send Stiles a text as she places the polka-dot suit in his lap.

There's a while of nothing but Derek watching Paige look through her selections and replacing the ones she doesn't want.

“Has he let you touch him down there yet? I was wondering.”

Derek glares.

“What?”

“You were _wondering_?”

“I can’t think about you when we’re not together?” She picks up the one-piece that has waves crashing over the midsection.

He stutters, “O-Of course you can but that’s not the same thing.”

She makes a face and tsks. “So that’s a ‘no’ then?”

His phone buzzes with Stiles’ reply, _Which store?_

 _Macy’s. North side_ he types back. “He lets me touch him.”

“Oh?” She sets that suit in his lap too. “When?”

“ _Every time_.”

“Liar!” She clucks a laugh. “That time in his car he sucked you off and didn’t let you touch him, and that time in the library he sucked you off and finished himself, and—”

“Okay shhh!” Derek looks around the sparse store. “Keep your voice down, jeez.”

“No one’s around.” She says, stretching to hang two of the suits back up. “Maybe you should just y’know, be more assertive. I mean that's gotta be weird, right?"

"It’s not like I haven’t tried to go for it, but it’s always ‘I got it’ or ‘Don’t worry about me’ or something.” Derek sighs. “He just doesn’t want me to.”

Paige has her brow furrowed and she purses her lips. “Well, have you tried _asking_ why he won’t let you blow him?”

Just then, two girls walking by behind Paige turn and look at the two of them in horror. Derek blushes and starts fiddling with the string on one of the bathing suits.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“Those girls just heard you.” He whispers sharply.

“Oops.” She turns over her shoulder and giggles. “Hey Der, your man’s here.”

Derek’s head snaps up just in time to see Paige raise her hand in a wave to Stiles who smiles back.

“If you don’t ask him, I will.” She says as they watch him walk toward them.

Derek's eyes flit back to her. “You wouldn’t.” He can hear her heartbeat and he knows she would.

She grins back at him and wiggles her eyebrows.

Derek rolls his eyes. "I don't even know why I told you that stuff.”

Paige scoffs. "If I was in your shoes, I'd be bragging too."

She doesn't give him the chance to answer her claim as she quickly stands to greet Stiles, leaving Derek on the bench with her things on his lap.

“I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.” She holds out her hand. “I’m Paige.”

Stiles takes her hand and gives his name.

“Nice to finally meet you.” She says. “I’ve heard good things.”

Stiles smiles and he glances at Derek. “Really?”

“Yeah,” She nods. "Like for one, I hear you suck dick like there's gold at the bottom.”

Derek feels his face heat up and he studies the colourful patterns on the rack before him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Stiles shrug. "Well it is one of my...specialties." He had licked his lips during that little pause, Derek just knows it.

"It sure sounds like it."

Derek winces. "Please stop, both of you, just stop."

"Aw," She says, "We're embarrassing him." then nudges Derek’s shoulder. "Fine, hey Stiles, what do you think?" She holds up the one-piece with the waves and a plain black one with a plunging neckline.

Stiles lets his eyes run over her and both the suits. "Can I see you _in_ them?"

Paige beams. "You sure can. Be right back."

Stiles joins Derek on the bench in the space Paige had occupied, still with the leftover bathing suits between them.

"What’s she getting dressed up for?" Stiles asks.

"Pool party tomorrow night."

" _You're_ not going?"

Derek shakes his head. "I dunno Lydia well enough to get invited to one of her parties."

"Lydia _Martin_?"

"Yeah, she and Paige have this like, mutual respect thing going on." Derek turns to him. "Have you met her?"

"On the first day." Stiles nods and bites the corner of his lips. "In the library.” He reaches out to pull at Derek’s collar and frowns when he sees the skin just below is no longer bruised. “You should go to the party.”

Derek makes a face. “Not sure how Lydia’s gonna respond to uninvited guests.”

Stiles shrugs. “You can be my plus one.”

Derek arches an eyebrow. “ _You_ got invited?”

“Yeah and I’m inviting you, so we should go try some stuff on too.”

Derek shakes his head. “You go ahead, I have shorts at home I can wear.”

Stiles hangs his head and sighs dramatically before getting up and grabbing Derek’s hand to pull him off the bench. “I feel like you should know by now when I’m propositioning you. C’mon.”

“Wait, what about Paige?” Derek asks, looking over his shoulder as he and Stiles walk toward the Men’s fitting rooms.

“We’ll be back in like a second.” Stiles starts moving a little faster. “We can try out my super power again.”

Stiles backs Derek up against the mirror in the stall furthest away from the door, kissing his lips feverishly with Derek gripping his jacket at shoulders before sliding his hand between them. Stiles breathes heat against Derek's cheek then drops to his knees to undo Derek's jeans.

"Wait."

He grasps Stiles' wrists in his hands and Stiles groans, mumbling something against Derek's thigh.

He gets on his knees too. "Let me make up for forgetting."

Stiles brows pull together. "You don't have to do that."

Derek grits his teeth against the overstated claim. "I _want_ to." He starts working at Stiles' jeans again. "It's the least I could do."

"De—"

Someone is banging on the door to the stall.

"You kids gotta get outta there." comes a forceful voice from the other side.

"Sir, we—" Derek starts but Stiles claps a hand over his mouth.

" _What_ are you doing?" He spits softly.

"You can't be in the changing room if you're not changing." The voice says again. "If you get out now I won't put you in lockup 'til your parents get here."

"Can we get that in writing?" Stiles jokes before Derek pushes the hand away, saying,

"We'll be right out." then quickly stands to do up his jeans.

"Dude he's bluffing." Stiles whispers as he stands too. "I've seen it a million times. He's probably just some other buyer who saw us come in and wants to mess with us."

"I'm not taking the chance either way dude!" Derek gestures at Stiles' open fly. "I can't have my parents finding out about this."

"Fine." Stiles rolls his eyes as he pulls up his zipper.

"Coming out." Derek announces as he pulls the door open to reveal the security guard standing before the door.

" _Derek_?"

Derek closes his eyes and swears internally.

Stiles nudges his shoulder. "You know this guy?"

"Cam, I can ex—"

"I won't tell any anyone, just—" Camden nods toward the door.

Derek smiles gratefully then takes Stiles' hand and walks out of the changing rooms.

"Who was that?"

"Laura's boyfriend."

"He's kinda cu—ow dude you're squeezing my hand!"

"You guys are such jerks!" rings out at them as soon as they leave the changing room.

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire." Stiles mutters and Derek folds his lips so Paige doesn't see him grinning.

She is pointing an accusing finger at Stiles as she walks toward them. "Did you only ask me to go change so you could run off with Derek?"

He squints, "That was only half the reason." Then gestures at the bag in her hand. “Which one did you pick?”

“The wave one, thanks for asking.” She sneers at him then turns to Derek. “My mom called and I have to go. I don’t suppose you mind catching a ride back with Stiles.”

Derek shrugs one shoulder. “Yeah, that’s fine.”

Paige steps closer to him and grasps Derek's arm to pull him aside. “Did you ask him?"

He purses his lips and shakes his head. "I will though."

She kisses his cheek. "Text me later. Bye Stiles."

"Bye!" He calls back, waving. "It was nice to meet you."

She doesn't respond as she hurries toward the nearest doors.

"So, where should we go?" Stiles digs his hands into his pockets. "We could try a different store where the changing rooms aren't so heavily guarded."

Derek shakes his head. "Let's just go home."

"But we didn't—"

"We don't have to."

The look on Stiles' face proves he realizes Derek turned his little saying around on him.

"C'mon." He starts walking toward the door Paige just left through.

Stiles' footsteps echo his own.

\-----

"Are you mad at me?" Stiles finally asks. "You haven't said anything since we left the Mall."

"I'm not mad." Derek mutters to the window.

"Okay now I'm _sure_ you're mad." Stiles takes his eyes off the road to glance over at Derek. "C'mon talk to me."

Paige's voice echoes in his head and Derek takes a deep breath. “Why won’t you let me touch you?"

Stiles scoffs. “What?”

“Whenever we’re together—” Derek turns in his seat to face Stiles as much as the seatbelt will allow him. “—you never let me touch your dick. Why?”

Stiles is shaking his head with a confused look on his face. “I dunno what you’re talking about, dude.”

“That first night in your car you wouldn’t let me, and when we were in the library you just took care of yourself, and then just now in the changing room you were about to tell me that you don't want me to touch you."

“That’s not true."

Derek resists the urge to listen in on Stiles' heartbeat.

"So I don’t let you get me off, so what? Why is it such a huge deal?”

“Because it makes me feel like you don’t want me!” Derek’s shout rings in both their ears.

“And me putting your penis in my mouth on a near constant basis supports that idea _how_?”

Derek groans and shoves himself back into the seat. “Just forget it.”

Stiles huffs but doesn't say anything further.

The tension in the car is squeezing at Derek's lungs and the farther it goes, the tighter it squeezes. He's a second away from bursting into tears from the pain when he sees the sign at the end of their drive. He unlocks the seatbelt before Stiles pulls the car to a stop and already has his hand on the door.

Stiles reaches over to grab his arm before Derek can get out of the car. "Wait,"

Derek keeps facing the car window.

"Look," Stiles says. "The last thing you should be thinking is that I don't want you, okay? I guess I didn't realize how my doing that would make you feel." He rubs his thumb over Derek's arm. "I'll try to be better about it." He leans forward as he gently tries to pull Derek around to face him. "I promise."

Derek takes a deep breath and nods. "Did you get the door fixed?"

Stiles stutters, "W-y-yeah."

Derek turns and leans over to give him a kiss. "I'll see you at school tomorrow." He says before climbing out of the car and walking into the woods.


	5. Lake House

Derek holds the door open for Paige as they walk into the school building.

“So he just sprung it on you like that?” He asks as he dodges a kid that’s fumbling with his books.

“Yeah! I mean he's been saying lately that I was improving and that I should have a solo at the recital but I thought he was joking!”

“You shouldn’t be nervous,” He says. “The recital is a week away. That's plenty of time.”

“What if I suck?” She whines.

“Paige, you're amazing.” He bumps her shoulder with his own and watches a small smile blossom on her face. “And besides, if he says you’re getting even better…that’s great, right?”

“Not if…”

Derek freezes when he hears Stiles’ voice say his name from the other side of the English classroom door as they pass. Paige keeps walking for a moment before she realises he’s stopped.

"Derek? De—Are you listening to me?"

He quickly brings his finger up to his lips as he leans against the door. Paige sighs and makes her way further down the hall to her locker.

Derek can faintly hear three voices, what he thinks may be two boys—one being Stiles—and a girl. The chatter from the hallway isn't making it any easier to eavesdrop so Derek presses his ear to the door.

"— _you_ not think that this is a bad idea?" says the girl Derek now recognizes as Lydia Martin. "He's your best friend. Isn't it kind of your job to stop him from doing stupid things?"

The other boy responds, "I think he should do it."

Lydia scoffs.

"And I'm not pointing any fingers here but it's not like Stiles got _himself_ into this mess."

"So this is _my_ fault?" Lydia asks. "All I d—"

"What are you doing, weirdo?" Paige interrupts.

"Shh!" Derek glares and mouths, _I'm trying to hear!_ He watches Paige roll her eyes before tentatively pressing her ear to the door too.

The next part he catches is the other boy saying, "—him," before Lydia starts again.

"Stiles," She says. "I'm sorry that I inspired you or whatever to pursue this but he may never trust you again if you tell him."

"Or he'd appreciate your honesty." The other boy chimes in.

Someone sighs and Stiles starts,

"Not—"

The bell rings, signalling five minutes until classes start and Derek groans.

"I’m gonna have to go with Scott on this one." Stiles finishes, then something in the room creaks. "Besides, I don't have any other choice. He's started blaming himself for me holding back on him and I...I can't keep _keeping_ it from him."

The other boy, who must be Scott, asks, "Holding back on him how?"

Stiles doesn’t reply or at least he doesn’t give one that Derek can hear.

"Fine!" Lydia says. "Fine, just...I still think this is a bad idea but I don't have nearly enough time to describe all the ways."

There's footsteps clicking toward the door and Derek grabs Paige's arm to pull her away. They move toward their lockers and Derek pulls his open and stands behind the door. He watches Lydia, Stiles, and the one named Scott walk out of the empty classroom.

"Okay what's going on." Paige glowers when he shuts his locker and faces her.

"Stiles has something to tell me." He says softly.

"That's it?" She folds her arms over her chest. “I got a cold ear for _that_?”

Derek shakes his head a little. "Lydia said that I might never trust him again if he tells me."

The one-minute bell rings and he watches concern flash across Paige’s face before she hides it away.

"I'm sure it's nothing." Paige clutches his hand and squeezes. "We should go."

Derek nods and pushes himself away from the lockers. His hand is still held tight in Paige’s until they get to Biology.

He doesn’t hear or see Stiles again until he’s headed to lunch after third period when a pair of hands covers his eyes and a voice says, “Guess who.” by his ear.

Derek holds his breath when he hears Stiles’ voice then pulls the hands away from his face and turns.

Stiles pouts. “Y’know it defeats the whole purpose of the game if you just turn around."

Derek folds his lips to mimic a smile and Stiles searches his face.

"Is everything okay?" He asks as he reaches out to take Derek’s hand.

Derek sighs. "'M kinda hungry."

"Right," Stiles chuckles as his eyes flit to the cafeteria doors and back. "Well I just wanted to say hi since I haven't seen you all day...and to ask what time I should pick you up later."

"Pick me up?"

“For Lydia’s party…” His smile droops slightly. “…unless you changed your mind about going.”

“No…no I just thought I’d get a ride from Paige since her house is closer to mine and it’s a twenty-minute drive to Lydia’s so…”

“Oh.” Stiles sighs and his shoulders sag with it. “I was hoping we could talk but...I guess I’ll just see you there then."

Derek feels like a knot has been untied from around his chest so he takes a deep breath and nods. "Okay."

“Just find me and we’ll just go somewhere quiet.” Stiles smiles softly.

He pulls Derek in for a kiss then drops his hand before he turns toward the cafeteria.

\-----

_Meet me down at the dock._

_There's a little path off the top of the driveway u can't miss it :)_

Derek reads the text again then lets his eyes track the path Stiles mentioned until it disappears down.

"You sure you wanna do this?” Paige grunts from the back seat of her car as he feels it jerk against his back.

"Yeah," He sighs. "Might as well get it over with, right?"

"Hey," She pokes her head out the window. "I'm all for a game of Dodge-Stiles. I say you at least get some drinks in you before your imminent break-up."

Derek scoffs. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Sorry." She pushes at the door and he shifts out of the way so she can get out. "All I'm saying is, you don't _have_ to go to him right away." She reaches down to the floor of the car and grabs her flip-flops. "We could go inside for a little while, y'know drink _and_ dodge, swim _and_ subterfuge, party _and_ —"

There's a series of loud splashes and then a crescendo of yelling.

"You have my permission to have fun without me." He says when the noise dies down.

She frowns and pushes the button on her keys to lock the car. "Are you _positive_ you don't wanna come in?"

"I shouldn't keep him waiting."

"Text me when things go sour." She corrects, " _If_ things go sour," when she sees his scowl.

He pulls her in for a hug and she presses their cheeks together as she holds him tighter.

"Whatever happens down there, try not to take it too hard, okay?"

Derek nods against her face then pulls away from her.

She leaves him with a pat on the shoulder before heading for the house as he walks down the path.

Derek's mind immediately goes worst-case scenario when the dock is in sight: Stiles is a werewolf hunter and this has all been some clever ruse to trap him then use him to get to the rest of his pack. He feels his chest tightening at the thought of walking into an ambush and stops in his tracks when he sees a rock sail from the underneath the boathouse and out to skip over the water. He looks up at the lights coming from the house and contemplates running back up the path, maybe texting Stiles to tell him he couldn’t make it…

“Derek?”

He jumps at the sound of his name, too distracted by the pounding in his ears to hear Stiles moving.

“Hey,” Stiles says, smiling a little as he drops the rocks in his hand then wipes it on his board shorts. “I was starting to think you weren’t gonna show.”

Derek grits his teeth as he cautiously walks closer. “Paige was having me keep watch while she changed out of her work clothes,” He explains.

“Oh.” Stiles says.

He kisses Derek’s cheek when he’s close enough and that makes Derek’s unease ramp up because Stiles had never kissed his _cheek_ before. He looks around after Stiles steps away from him but nothing moves except the moonlight over the water.

“So…” Stiles takes a deep breath and rubs his hands together. "I have something to tell you,” He says, giving Derek a shaky smile. “And I dunno how you’re gonna react which is why I wanted us to be alone.” He scoffs. “I could’ve picked a better place but it was short notice.”

Derek turns to looks back up the path before stepping onto the dock and walking around Stiles to look around the boathouse.

Stiles takes a deep breath before starting, “Okay so you remember how I said that I'd met Lydia on the first day of school?"

Derek nods then gives Stiles his full attention.

"Well, she and I became fast friends and she was uh, she was showing me around town and telling me about all the history and stuff of Beacon Hills." Stiles licks his lips. "One day she took me to this spa in town, this was after I met you, and she told me about the family that owns the place." Stiles clears his throat and continues, "So then the subject of Beacon Hills' weird ass families came up...because you know how salon people talk and um... _your_ family was mentioned."

Derek clenches his jaw.

"Man these people had some stories about you Hales." He huffs a laugh and scratches the back of his head. "The point though is that all this stuff they were saying got me really curious y'know so...that...that was kind of the reason I wanted to spend more time and get to know you...a-at first, I mean, it's not like that anymore, I swear." He finishes with a gulp.

Derek just stares silently back at him. He’s unsure how much time passes before he opens his mouth but Stiles gasps softly like he was expecting Derek to yell.

"So...you pump me for information and then what, feed it back to Lydia and the rest of the town?"

"No!" Stiles starts to move closer but then stops. "No...and I hadn’t planned to, I just…I just wanted to satisfy my own curiosity. Turns out everyone was wrong and you’re completely normal and your family sounds great, not at all like the fucked up stories people tell about you." He shakes his head then searches Derek’s eyes. “Do you hate me?”

Derek takes a moment to think about it, then smiles. “No.”

Stiles’ jaw goes slack. “What, seriously?”

Derek shrugs. “Honestly, I was expecting much worse.”

“What could possibly be worse than our relationship being based on my ulterior motives?”

“Lots.” Derek answers simply. “Besides, your motives changed."

"That's no excuse..." Stiles shakes his head. “If you told me that, I'd break up with you."

"Do you _want_ me to break up with you?"

"Well no," Stiles answers quickly. "But I at least deserve _some_ kind of punishment."

"Like what?"

"I dunno...punch me slap me whatever just get angry."

" _That_ is not a good idea."

Stiles scoffs and throws his arms up in exasperation. Derek watches him walk over to bump his head on the boathouse wall.

“You’re taking this harder than I am.” He comments.

“No, I’m…” Stiles sighs then turns to lean his back against the wall. “I’m happy I just…I got so in my head about this whole thing and I guess it’s just hard to accept that you forgave me so easily.”

Derek closes the space between them. “Is there anything I could do to prove it?”

Stiles reaches out and tugs Derek’s body against his own. Derek grins and rests his chin on Stiles' shoulder.

"I'm sorry." Stiles says softly. "I hadn't said it." He turns in the small space between their faces. "I'm so sorry Derek."

Derek pulls him in tighter. "Don't mention it."

Stiles kisses his cheek and Derek leans away.

"And don't do that." He says.

"Do what?"

"Kiss my cheek."

Stiles snorts. "Since when does it matter where I kiss?"

"I dunno," He shrugs. "It's weird."

"Fine." Stiles reaches up to run his fingers through Derek's hair then brushes his lips along Derek’s temple. "Can we stay here for a little longer?"

"Yeah."

Stiles scratches at Derek’s scalp and Derek lets his eyes fall closed.

“You were right by the way.”

Derek’s brows pull together. “About?”

Stiles leans out of their hug. “What you said yesterday about me touching you but not letting you touch me. I think like deep down I knew I was using you and that you don’t deserve to have me tainting you and I don’t deserve to have all of someone who doesn’t keep secrets from me.”

Derek’s heart sinks and he looks out at the moonlight on the water. “ _Everybody_ has secrets.”

“Well I swear that from now on my end of this relationship is full disclosure.”

The corner of Derek's lips turn up in a smile before he faces Stiles again. "Sounds good." He says.

Stiles wiggles his eyebrows. "Kiss on it?"

Derek scoffs as Stiles leans over to give him a peck on the lips. When Stiles starts to move away, Derek holds him by the back of the head to keep their lips pressed together. He tugs at Stiles' hair, urging the mouth against his own to open so he can slide his tongue in. Stiles reaches up to push both hands under Derek's shirt.

He yelps into Stiles' mouth and pulls away at the touch of the frigid fingers against his back.

"What?" Stiles whines.

"Your hands are freezing." Derek answers as his eye catches an overturned crate by the wall.

"Well, you can't warm them up from all the way over there."

Derek nods at the crate and Stiles moves to see. His eyes find the crate and he arches his brow when he turns back to Derek, who replies with the same gesture.

Stiles moves over to the crate and inspects it before taking a seat then beckoning Derek closer as he wiggles into a comfortable position.

He stands before Stiles for a moment before he's pulled down to straddle Stiles' lap.

"Are your knees okay?" He asks, touching the place where Derek's skin meets the wood.

Derek nods as he takes Stiles' face in hand and finds his lips again. Stiles slides his hands up the back of Derek’s shirt again and holds him tight when he jerks. He runs his hands over Derek’s skin, up and down his back as their tongues slide together until Stiles breaks the kiss and reaches his now-warm hand between them.

"What are you doing?" Derek grins as Stiles tugs the string on his shorts.

“Not wasting an opportunity.” He replies, catching Derek’s lips under his own again as he pushes his hand in.

Derek softly whimpers when Stiles cups under his balls. He grips Stiles’ shirt and starts bucking into his hand. He feels across Stiles’ happy trail to where the waistband meets the skin. He looks into Stiles’ eyes, asking permission. He gets a little nod and hastily starts working at the tie. Stiles chuckles then opens his legs wider when Derek takes him in his hand. He sighs and rests his hand on the back of Derek’s neck when he starts slowly stroking him. Stiles uses his thumb to rub Derek's slit and Derek copies the action, feeling the pre-cum wetting Stiles' cock, and smiles.

“What are you so happy about?” Stiles asks.

Derek’s smile turns into a smirk. “You’re getting wet for me.”

Stiles snorts then bites gently into Derek’s bottom lip. Their knuckles rub against each other as they both speed up their pumping. Stiles huffs and drops his head to Derek’s shoulder while Derek nuzzling his nose in the crook of Stiles’ neck.

Derek elicits a frustrated moan “Faster,” as he starts thrusting into Stiles’ hand.

Stiles complies until Derek cries out into his neck and pitches his hips forward when he releases into Stiles’ hand. He exhales deeply and lays his head on Stiles’ shoulder.

He shifts his hips and asks, “Did you come?”

Stiles shakes his head.

“Good,” Derek smiles and Stiles scoffs,

“Why’s that?”

Derek moves to nip his ear lobe then whispers, “’Cos now _I_ finally get to taste _you_.”

He listens to Stiles’ shuddery moan then climbs off his lap. He adjusts himself in his shorts before kneeling and pushing Stiles’ knees apart to settle between them. He looks up and finds Stiles slowly running his tongue over his hand before licking his lips then smirking. Derek inches closer to drop his open mouth around Stiles’ tip and suckles it. He grunts and clutches the fabric of Derek’s shirt at his shoulder as he throws his head back against the wall.

Derek runs his blunt fingernails up Stiles’ chest under his shirt to stroke over a nipple because he can't get enough of Stiles writhing under him with those soft, sharp pants escape Stiles’ lips. One of his hands buried itself in Derek’s hair as hips thrust into his mouth.

"Oh my G—” Stiles whimpers when he’s taken deeper.

Something falls outside and Derek snaps his head up. He wipes his mouth on the back of his hand as he stands.

“N-no don’t st—where are you going?” Stiles ask breathlessly as Derek moves to the far wall of the boathouse.

He finds a crack and looks through it to see a group people laughing and running down the hill from the lake house.

“We gotta go.” He says.

“ _What_?”

He turns back to Stiles. “There’s people coming. We have to leave before they catch us.”

“Are you frea—” Stiles sighs deeply and tugs his shorts back up his hips. “Where are we s’posed to go?”

“Into the woods.” Derek replies, listening for how close the others were. “I know a way we can go around and get back to the house. Come on.”

He takes off running and Stiles groans before following.

\-----

Stiles' breath is coming in gasps by the time they reach the end of the driveway. Derek watches him double over then grabs Stiles under his arm and pulls him up to throw Stiles' arm over his shoulders.

"I hate you." Stiles huffs when they're halfway up.

"Why? It's not my fault you're out of shape."

Stiles lightly smacks Derek's face. "I mean about you stopping all of sudden and then making me run. Do you know how hard that was?"

Derek snickers.

Stiles drops his arms from Derek's shoulders. "You're a bad person."

"Well, to be fair you did say you wanted punishment." Derek shrugs.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Stiles turn to him, feels the glare burning into the side of his face.

"Did you _plan_ this?"

Derek rolls his eyes. "Yes Stiles I planned for drunken teenage party-goers to interrupt me blowing you for the very first time _right_ when you were on the edge of coming." He throws a glare right back at Stiles who narrows his eyes.

"Fine. You didn't plan it." He adds in a mumble, "And I guess I did deserve it."

Derek reaches over to take Stiles' hand. "You wanna get outta here?"

Stiles chuckles softly. "What's wrong? Don't want to get drunk and dry-hump in Lydia's pool?"

Derek shakes his head. "Is it still _dry_ -humping if you're in a pool? The whole concept is dependent on it being dry."

He turns to Stiles and finds he's being smirked at.

"What?"

Now Stiles is grinning. "I'm rubbing off on you."

Derek rolls his eyes.

"But no," Stiles continues. "'cos it's a sex thing, like _wet_ -humping is _sex_ but people just call it humping for time's sake so then it _would_ still be dry-humping even if we were in a pool as long as we weren't like actually having actual sex." He shrugs. "And yeah we can leave. I'm parked up near the house so—"

"Hold on, I have to tell Paige I'm leaving."

Derek drops Stiles' hand and starts jogging for the door.

"Oh okay well, I'll wait here then." Stiles calls behind him.

The front door shakes with the music blaring from the other side and Derek  thinks Lydia is lucky there aren't any neighbors around or she'd have a noise complaint on her hands.

He moves inside and steps into the crowd as he tries to block out the sound of the music to find Paige's heartbeat. He catches the faint sound at the end of the song and follows it up the stairs. The first door in the hallway is locked and the second is an empty bathroom, the third is a bedroom where Paige sits in the middle of the bed looking at her phone.

"Ocupado." She says without looking up when she hears the door open. "Go make out somewhere else."

Derek clears his throat then steps inside.

"Oh hey!" She scoots to the edge of the bed and asks, "How'd it go?"

"It went fine." He nods. "We're good and uh, I think we're gonna head out."

Paige smiles, "Yeah, yeah that's fine. I'll see you tomorrow."

Derek sits down next to her. "Are you gonna be okay? Here...alone? 'cos you could come w—”

A door opens behind them and Derek looks over his shoulder to see a guy in nothing but swim trunks steps out of the apparently en suite bathroom.

"Hey," He says and Derek raises his hand in greeting.

"This is Brett." Paige says. "He's from out of town." She pats Derek's knee and leans in to whisper, "I'm good, thanks."

Derek nods as he stands away from the bed and gives Brett a once-over before nodding his approval to Paige who winks back as he closes the door.

"Did you find her?" Stiles asks when Derek climbs into the passengers seat.

"Yeah, she was in one of the upstairs bedrooms with a guy."

Stiles laughs, "Go Paige." and Derek smiles along with him.

\-----

Derek has his head leaned against the car seat staring with droopy eyes at the shapes in the rock formation passing by outside his window on the long stretch of road leaving the lake house.

He hears Stiles lets out an exasperated sigh and rolls his head to look over him. Stiles has the steering wheel gripped so tight the blood is draining from his knuckles.

"The steering wheel is gonna pop off into your lap if you're not careful." Derek comments.

"I hate driving through this town at night." Stiles says then takes a deep breath though he doesn't let up on his hold. "Gives me the creeps, like I always feel like some wild animal is gonna jump out at me."

Derek smiles. "The worse you'll get out here is deer."

"I'd rather not crash into a deer either if I can help it."

Derek reaches out his hand to stroke over Stiles' arm and finds it taut.

"Relax," He says, sitting up.

"I'll relax around some streetlights." He gestures through the windshield. "Where _are_ the streetlights? Shouldn't there be streetlights? I mean, it feels like I'm not getting anywhere."

"We're almost there." Derek comforts, moving to rub his shoulder as Stiles rounds a tight corner that opens out on a main road. “See?” He pushes his fingers through Stiles' hair and feels him lean slightly into the touch.

“That road was shorter in the daylight." Stiles grumbles.

Derek takes the hand away and Stiles whines softly so he replaces it on his thigh, making Stiles hum with satisfaction.

He watches him then, running his eyes from Stiles' face down to where his legs disappear under the steering wheel.

“So…you’re more comfortable driving on this road, right?” He asks.

Stiles shrugs. “Why?”

“Something I’ve always wanted to try.” He keeps an eye on Stiles’ profile as he slides his hand further between Stiles’ legs then sees the smile stretch across Stiles’ face.

“Wacha doin’?”

Derek answers, “Not wasting an opportunity” as he unbuckles his seatbelt and reaches into Stiles’ shorts to find his shaft.

“Whoa my God are we seriously doing this?” Stiles huffs as moves his arm out of the way when Derek leans over his lap and kneeled onto the passenger seat.

“Mhm, just keep your eyes on the road.” The hand on him is quickly replaced with the heat of Derek’s mouth.

Stiles slides his hand through Derek’s hair and grips at the strands. He moans when Derek grasps his base as he slips up over the head. Stiles tugs at Derek’s hair when he moves down to mouth over his balls.

He breathlessly warns Derek, “I gotta turn.” and Derek drops a foot to the floor of the car to brace himself as Stiles drives onto the other road.

He moves to suck Stiles back into his mouth and the action causes his shirt to fall a little down his back. Stiles pulls his hand from Derek’s hair to run it over the revealed skin then down the back of Derek’s shorts to grab his ass. Derek moans—which makes Stiles moan—and arches his ass into Stiles’ palm.

“Fuck," Stiles breathes and Derek hears him hit the headrest then the creak of the leather around the steering wheel where Stiles is gripping it again.

Now Derek moves his mouth quickly, listening to the erratic breaths leaving Stiles’ lips until he erupts into Derek’s mouth with a cry. Derek has his eyes closed as Stiles languidly thrusts his hips in and out of his mouth while keeping him firmly planted with a hand at the back of his head.

Derek feels the car swerving before Stiles reacts by pushing at Derek’s shoulder, forcing him off his cock.

“Shit!” he says, staring through the windshield and blindly stuffing himself back into his shorts.

Derek swallows and wipes his mouth then follows Stiles’ gaze to see red and blue lights flashing up the road. He quickly moves back into his seat and locks in his seat belt.

“Oh God…oh God…” Stiles repeats and Derek can’t help but hear Stiles’ heartbeat start pounding in his head. “Oh God…oh fuck, I think that’s my dad up there.”

“Your wh—your _dad_?” Derek yelps and his heart rate quickly matches pace with Stiles’. “You didn’t tell me your dad was a deputy!”

Stiles winces, “Actually, he’s the sheriff.”

“What?!”

“He just got the job!” Stiles shouts back as he reaches up to his visor and pulls out his license and registration as he rolls up to the cop car and finds the button to lower the windows.

Derek gulps when he realises it smells a little sex in the car and hopes Sheriff Stilinski doesn’t notice.

“License and registration, please.” He recites.

Stiles hands them over and the Sheriff checks over them with a flashlight then hands them back before leaning onto the window. Derek grits his teeth when the older man’s eyes fall on him for a second. He looks down at his knee because this is a disaster of a way to meet your boyfriend’s father for the first time.

“Stiles, it’s the middle of the night.” He says, sounding weary. “Where are you coming from?”

Derek hears Stiles take a deep breath. “Just a…small gathering with a couple friends.”

Sheriff Stilinski sighs. “Were you drinking?”

Stiles replies, “No sir.”

The flashlight shines at Derek’s face for a moment. “Were _you_ drinking?”

Derek snaps his head up and quickly parrots, “No sir.”

“Uh, Dad,” Stiles clears his throat. “This is Derek…from school. I was just gonna drop him off then head right home where I won’t leave my room for the next three days ‘cos I am _so_ grounded.”

Sheriff Stilinski smiles and reaches in to pat Stiles on the side of his head. “Try a week.”

Stiles purses his lips.

“Drive safe kiddo.” He gives Derek a wave. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too, sir.”

Stiles groans as he drives away from his father.

“That wasn’t so bad.” Derek says, turning to look back over his shoulder. “He didn’t suspect a thing.”

“He totally knows.” Stiles deadpans.

“ _How_?”

“Dude he was best detective the NYPD ever had. We’ve got both sides of a whole wall in our house dedicated to all the awards he got.” He looks up at the rear-view mirror. “Just watch, he’ll start interrogating me the second he walks into the house later.”

“I’m sorry, Stiles…” Derek frowns. “I didn’t mean to get you in trouble with your dad.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m not in trouble.” Stiles reaches over to place his hand over Derek’s. “He’ll just mostly chew me out about safety hazards and how I was swerving and then tack on another week to my sentence.” He intertwines their fingers. “We’re good.”

Derek leaves Stiles with a kiss when he gets dropped off and his head no sooner hits his pillow before he receives a text that reads, _My dad just called to tell me he wants u to come to dinner some time in the very near future._ Then Stiles quickly follows up with _Told u so!_


	6. Moon

Derek wakes to the scraping sound of Laura yanking his curtains open to let the sunlight directly into his face.

"Sun's up," she sings.

He pulls his blanket over his head and groans as he rolls over to face the other wall. He feels her drop onto his bed before she tugs back his blanket.

"We need to talk," She says.

“About what?” He whines.

"About why you left with Paige last night and came back two hours later with that boy from the parking lot.”

Derek sighs and stares at the wall for a moment before sitting up to face his sister.

"You were spying on me?"

"I was on a walk when I heard the car and decided to take a look." She tilts her head to the side. "So who is he really? Cos before you said he was just some boy from school but you kissed him when you were leaving the car."

Derek rolls his eyes and climbs out of bed.

"That's not an answer,” she complains.

He makes his way into the hall, hoping he could escape but she follows him with her questions.

"What do you even know about this kid, Derek? How do you know he can be trusted?"

He stops and turns to see her almost run into him.

"How did you know Cam could be trusted?"

"That's different," She scoffs. "We grew up with Camden. I know everything there is to know about him."

Derek turns back for the stairs and he can smell breakfast from the top step.

"You still haven't given me an answer." Laura says, right on his heels.

"His name is Stiles and as I’m sure you already guessed, He’s...my boyfriend and I trust him."  _ Especially after last night _ , he doesn't add. "He's good Laura."

"What's his last name?"

He arches an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Just curious."

Derek crosses his arms over his chest. " _ Why _ ?"

"Everything okay up there?" Their mother's voice carries from the base of the staircase where she's stood for however long because neither of them knew she was there.

"Everything's fine."

Derek starts down the stairs again, thankful when he doesn't hear Laura following him. He kisses Talia's cheek when he reaches her.

"Morning."

"I'm not done with you," Laura calls but he doesn't give a response as he walks into the kitchen.

"Something I should know about?" His mother asks from the doorway.

His hand pauses on the way to the fridge door handle and he gulps, shaking his head instead of giving a verbal answer when he finally grabs it.

"Okay."

He pulls out the carton of orange juice and turns to find his mother sitting at the island.

"So how was the party?" She asks.

He shrugs as he starts piling French toast on his plate.

"It was fine."

"Did Paige enjoy it?"

Derek snorts, "I'm sure she did,” and reminds himself to ask. 

"Meaning?"

"She met someone and decided to stay at the house."

Talia rests her cheek in her palm, watching him as he joins her at the island. "So how did you get home?"

He schools his expression as he answers, "I got a ride from another friend."

"Oh, Raleigh?"

He takes a bite of his toast, thinks about the Number 12 player on his team.  "Not Raleigh."

"Andreas?"

He shakes his head slowly.

"Teddy?"

"Teddy graduated, remember?" Derek clears his throat and his fingers dangle over a second piece of toast on his plate. "This isn't a basketball friend."

"Oh?"

"He's new at school, well...he's the new _ est _ kid."

Talia is smiling softly when he looks at her.

"Well, you should bring him by sometime.” She reaches out to brush his hair back as she stands away from the island. “I’m sure your father and I would love to meet him."

He clears his throat. “Where  _ is _ Dad by the way?”

"He went on a run and I was just about to join him." She says over her shoulder as she moves toward the door then stops at the base of the stairs, and tilts her head. "Feed Cora when she wakes?"

He nods to the back of her head.

"Thanks honey."

As if on cue, Derek hears Laura's footsteps clambering down the stairs as Talia steps outside. He watches her storm into the kitchen until she disappears out of his vision.

"Did you want this orange juice?" She asks, barely hiding the malice in her voice.

"Mm," He turns in his seat and reaches out to her. "Yeah, I forgot about it."

She places the glass in his hand before dropping into the seat Talia just vacated.

"Where's Mom going?" She asks as she bites into a French toast, ham and egg sandwich of her own design.

"Out with dad." He takes a sip of the juice. "She said you should feed Cora when she wakes up."

Laura snorts as she chews. "So she told  _ you _ to do it?"

He shrugs, "Cora hates it when I feed her." then gets up with his empty plate and heads for the sink.

"'Cos you don't let her chew on the spoon!" She laughs softly."You were the same way. Always biting."

He smiles as he turns to lean back against the sink. "At least  _ I _ didn't try to mangle our father."

Laura snickers and takes another bite of her sandwich. She sighs deeply, smiling.

He purses his lips.

"It's Stilinski."

She turns her face up to him with a confused expression.

"Stiles' last name is Stilinski."

She stares silently back at him for a moment before her eyes balloon. "Stilinski like the new  _ Sheriff _ Stilinski?"

Derek closes his eyes because of course Laura would know the Sheriff what with her boyfriend training to become a deputy. She drops her food and rises from the seat, moving toward him but stays on the other side of the counter. He's glad for her squeezing the marble rather than his skin.

"You're screwing the _ Sheriff's son _ ?"

Derek pushes himself away from the counter. "We're not... _ screwing _ , we're just..." He folds his arms over his chest and shrugs his shoulders. "We’re not screwing."

Laura's brow twitches then she scoffs and rolls her eyes. "Hate to break it to you little brother but you don't end up covered in someone's scent like that  _ just _ from holding hands."

Derek’s stomach falls along with his arms. "Wh—"

"And trust me," she continues, "Walking through the trees barely does anything to mask the scent,  _ especially _ that much of it." She sucks her teeth. "I would know."

He stutters, “Y-you can still smell him on me?”

Laura sighs. "Yes."

"So...Mom and Dad..." He swallows but he can’t get around the lump forming in his throat.

That explains the look on his mother’s face when she was asking him about how he got home last night.

"Yep," She nods slowly. "You didn't really think you had kept it a secret for so long, did you?" She drums her fingernails once on the counter. "They wanted you to be the one to tell them instead of asking."

Derek grits his teeth.

"You're using protection right?" She asks.

He rolls his eyes. "I told you we're not doing that."

"Just making sure." She smiles softly as she pushes away from the counter and starts walking out of the kitchen.

Now it is his turn to follow her with questions.

"If you knew the whole time then what was with the interrogation a minute ago?" Derek demands as he follows her up.

"Mom and Dad used to do it to me all the time," Laura shrugs. "Trying to see if you'd break under pressure or whatever." She puts her finger to her lips as she reaches Cora's bedroom.

Pushing it open and finding the baby still asleep in her crib, she pulls the door closed again.

"You failed by the way." Laura says as she steps away. "A little family reminiscing and you broke." She shakes her head, teases him, "Pathetic."

Derek manages a smile for a moment before takes a deep breath.

"His dad wants the three of us to have dinner soon."

She stares at him. "So?"

"So, what should I do?" Derek cries.

She shrugs. "Be yourself?"

Derek exaggerates an eye-roll. “You can’t do any better than that?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Laura scoffs. "I was having dinners with Cam's dad since we were in Elementary School, so I can't help you." She shrugs again. "Ask Paige."

He grumbles, "This is why I don't tell you anything," as he moves past her, stepping into his bedroom and grabbing his phone to take his sister’s advice anyway.

Paige tells him to get into the same mind-set that he had last night and Derek knows she’s right, so he shoots another text to Stiles asking if his dad is free tomorrow night.

\- -

"You okay?" Stiles asks as he parks the Camaro in front of his house and relaxes back into his seat.

Derek wants to tell Stiles that he isn’t as ready as he thought he was, despite getting two extra days to prepare because the Sheriff couldn’t have some time off until then. He wants to ask Stiles to drive him back home and reschedule for a couple of months later.

"Yeah, why?" Derek answers.

"You didn't say a word the whole way here and you have like, a death grip on my leg."

“Oh.” Derek quickly pulls his hand away. "Yeah, maybe I  _ am  _ a little nervous.”

He can’t help the terrified-sounding laugh that bubbles out of his throat as he stares out at the dark street.

"Well," Stiles leans back against the headrest and speaks softly, "Dad's not home yet so I'll show you around." He jerks his neck in the direction of the house. “Maybe it’ll help calm you down.”

Derek nods and unlocks his seatbelt. Stiles hops out of the car and waits until Derek comes around the other side before taking his hand, walking alongside him to the front door.

“Welcome to my humble abode,” Stiles says as he steps inside. “Can I offer you something to drink?”

Derek shakes his head, “No thanks,” as he crosses the threshold after Stiles and looks around.

The Stilinski home isn’t any different from any other house on the block: couches, end tables, a fireplace with a mantle full of pictures, bookshelves.

Stiles shrugs out of his jacket and drapes it over the back of the nearest couch then reaches out for Derek’s shoulders.

“When’s your dad coming back?” He asks as Stiles helps him out of his own jacket.

“Should only be a few minutes.” Stiles replies. "He's picking up pizzas."

Derek nods slowly, eyes unable to rest in one spot in the living room.

“So,” Stiles clears his throat. “It’s not much. A lot smaller than the house we had in New York, but it's home." He takes a deep breath then points, “The kitchen and dining room are through there, the laundry room is through the kitchen and the first floor bathroom is over—dude, you look like you're not breathing," Stiles says and Derek hadn’t noticed that Stiles had turned to look back at him.

"What? No, I'm…"

Stiles sits on the arm of the couch. "C'mere."

Derek moves into Stiles' open arms and Stiles grasps at Derek’s waist.

"You're gonna be fine," Stiles whispers, shaking Derek's hips. "Look, alls you gotta do is answer his questions and make him laugh." He moves to catch Derek's eyes again when he looks away. "He's gonna see you for who you are and then he's gonna think you’re great."

Derek cringes a little at the thought of Stiles' father seeing him for what he really is.

Stiles sighs, “Anything I can do to ease your mind?” He starts moving his thumbs in little circular patterns on Derek’s waist.

Derek scoffs, “Nothing we have time for.”

Stiles laughs, "You horndog!"

Derek brings his hands up to cup Stiles’ jaw as he leans down to kiss him quickly because now he can hear a car moving toward the house.

“Think you could maybe hang out after?” Stiles grins and drags his nose over Derek’s when they pull apart. “We could watch a movie down here or…go upstairs and do something else.”

“In your room?” Derek asks, matching Stiles’ grin. “Alone?”

Stiles nods and Derek snorts, “And  _ I’m _ the horndog?”

Stiles giggles, “That’s one of the reasons we’re so good together.”

Derek smiles softly and shakes his head before leaning down to kiss Stiles again.

The sound of the engine finally catches Stiles’ attention and he pulls away to look over Derek's shoulder as his father’s headlights shine through the windows.

"You good or do you need me to stall him?" He asks, eyes turn back to Derek's as he stands.

“I’m good.”

He gives Derek another kiss before he moves to get the door for his father.

Sheriff Stilinski steps into the house carrying two pizza boxes balanced on one arm as he reaches out to give Stiles a hug with the other. Derek exhales deeply.

"Have a good day at work?" Stiles asks as he takes the boxes and kicks the door closed behind his dad.

"Yeah, petty crimes, mostly," His father answers as he shrugs out of his own jacket.

His eyes flit to Derek for an uncomfortable second before they go back to Stiles.

"How about you two?" He starts walking into the kitchen with Stiles and the boxes on his tail. "You have a good day at school?"

He moves straight to the cupboards and starts pulling out plates and glasses.

"It was alright." Stiles shrugs, though his father isn't looking, as he places the boxes on the counter. "There were a couple kids foolin' around where they shouldn't."

Derek glares at the side of Stiles' face until the call of his name drags his glare away from Stiles and he locks eyes with the Sheriff.

"How was school?"

Stiles is looking back at him now with an encouraging smile.

Derek nods. "It was good." To his own ears, his answer sounded a little rushed. He clears his throat and tries to slow down as he moves closer. "Didn't really learn much."

Stiles and his father shoot him the same confused look.

"Well come grab something to eat and we can talk more about it." He says, smiling before he turns to the fridge.

Stiles gives Derek two thumbs up.

With Stiles' leg being in constant contact with his under the table, Derek starts to feel a little better as he talks to the Sheriff. Whom he finds out only moved back to Beacon Hills because he was up for a promotion to Captain of the Homicide Department of the NYPD but he turned it down because he wanted to spend more time at home with his son. That mess—whatever it was—at Stiles' old school provided him with just the out they both needed. Circumstances, that he said he couldn't discuss, landed this job and they got out of New York within the week.

"Best decision I ever made." He smiles as he brings his bottle of beer to his lips.

"Yeah," Stiles scoffs playfully. "Now he can keep tabs on me easier 'coz it's such a small town compared to The Big Apple."

Stiles' father—Derek doesn't think he's quite ready yet to call the man by his first name though he was granted permission—leans back in his chair.

"I  _ need _ to be keeping tabs on you," he says softly, his tone suddenly turning solemn.

The room goes quiet and the air around them changes. Stiles looks down at his plate while his father studies the wall behind Stiles’ head. Derek scents regret…and a little shame.

Something starts buzzing and the Sheriff curses as he reaches down for his pocket and pulls out his phone.

"Well boys," The Sheriff announces as he stares at the screen for a moment before closing it and replacing the phone in his pocket. "Looks like we gotta cut this visit short." He stands. "Duty calls."

"Go," Stiles says, standing too and picking up the plates. "We'll take care of the dishes."

"Thank you." They share a look before the Sheriff pats Stiles on his shoulder, purses his lips, then looks down at Derek. "It was great officially meeting you, kid." He smiles genuinely and reaches out his hand for Derek to shake.

"It was nice meeting you too, sir." Derek smiles back.

Stiles moves to the sink with the plates and Derek joins him as the Sheriff walks toward the front door.

"Hey," He calls as he dons his jacket again. "Take him home as soon as you're done. You're still grounded."

Stiles’ mouth hangs open for a second. "B—"

"No 'buts', Stiles."

That's the first time all night that Derek has heard Stiles' father use such an authoritative tone with his son and he watches Stiles' shoulders stiffen.

"Yes sir," He says in a small voice.

The Sheriff nods then reaches for the door handle. "Love you."

"Love you," Stiles replies as his father steps outside.

He looks out at the front of the house until the car lights are pulling out of the driveway before he looks back at Derek.

Derek smiles and Stiles mirrors it. He still smells a little of the regret and shame rolling off Stiles’ skin and it makes him nervous all over again. He opens his mouth to ask what’s wrong but Stiles seems so much more closed off now than he did when his father was still here so Derek rethinks it.

"Are you really gonna take me home now?"

“You heard my dad."

Derek shrugs, “Yeah but can’t I stay for a  _ little  _ longer?” He leans close enough that his chest brushes Stiles' arm. “You still didn’t show me your bedroom.”

Stiles bites his lip and Derek inhales deeply when the shame dissipates to be replaced by Stiles' usual scent of latent arousal.

“Just a quick look,” Stiles says. “Once we’re done.”

Derek isn't paying attention as he sinks his hand into the water and hisses when he feels something slice into his skin. He yanks his hand out of the water and finds his palm bloodied.

“Derek!” Stiles cries out. “Oh my god, oh shit, shit, stay here.”

Stiles takes off in Derek’s periphery. 

“Wait,” Derek calls then winces at the stinging pain even as it starts to heal. “Stiles, I’m  _ fine _ , it’s—” He watches the wound close. “—it’s nothing.”

“I’ll be right there!” Stiles replies from the laundry room.

Derek exhales heavily and leans against the sink, his mind running to figure out how to explain the lack of damage to his skin. He quickly reaches back into the sink to tug the stopper out and let the water slowly circle into the drain.

“Lemme see it,” Stiles huffs as he walks back toward Derek, a small towel in one hand and a first aid kit in the other.

“Stiles…” Derek shakes his head. “Really, it’s nothing, you—”

“Let me see it, Derek,” he repeats, grabbing for Derek’s wrist then frowning when he looks at an unblemished hand.

“I told you it was nothing,” Derek laughs softly.

Stiles exhales heavily and studies Derek’s hand, palm and back, before moving to look into the sink. Derek gulps but when he follows Stiles’ gaze, he finds the sink empty of water. The steak knife that cut him sits in the middle, it’s handle stuck between a mug and a plate, forcing it to sit diagonally, blade up.

“You were bleeding,” Stiles says softly then looks at Derek’s palm. “I  _ saw  _ your blood.”

“But there’s no cut, so...you couldn’t have.”

“Yeah,” Stiles shakes his head. “I must’ve just imagined it cuz I freaked out.”

He drops Derek’s hand and purses his lips as he keeps staring at the knife.

Derek clears his throat and turns to start on the dishes again but Stiles rests a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s okay,” He says. “I’ll uh I’ll finish ‘em up later.” Stiles reaches up to scratch the back of his head. “Let’s go to my room.”

Derek follows Stiles when he steps away, headed for the stairs.

The bedroom has enough light for Derek to see even before Stiles flips the switch. Derek takes everything in, the closet with what looks like the sleeve of a shirt sticking out from underneath the doors, the desk with the trinkets, books, and laptop resting on it, the posters on the baby blue walls, the curtain billowing in the breeze coming through open window, and the bed. He moves to step further in but Stiles slides his hand into Derek’s and stops him.

“Alright, you’ve seen it.” He says as he pulls the door closed again with his other hand.

Derek scowls.

“Hey, don’t give me that sour face.” Stiles pokes Derek on the cheek with his forefinger. “I told you it was just gonna be a quick look and now, we gotta get you home.”

Derek whines, “Just a little bit longer?”

Stiles smiles slowly but he starts backing up the hall until he reaches the stairs. Derek sighs heavily as they make their way back to the living room.

They’re by the door when Derek hears Stiles moving behind him.

“Wait…” he says and Derek turns toward him with a grin.

“Change your mind?”

Stiles doesn’t smile back but he lets out a deep sigh, “Yeah,” and gestures toward the couch. “Sit down, I have to tell you something.”

Derek furrows his brow. The scent of shame is billowing around the room again. He clenches his jaw as he sits down and Stiles joins him.

They sit quietly for a long while but once Stiles takes another deep breath and opens his mouth to speak, Derek cuts him off,

“You don’t have to tell me.”

Stiles closes his eyes and shakes his head. “Yes I do, because if I don’t and you find out some other way...you’ll hate me.”

Derek takes Stiles’ hand. “I could never hate you.”

Stiles opens his eyes but he doesn’t look at Derek directly. He stares at their joined hands.

“Well, I told you that I wasn’t gonna keep secrets from you so...just let me do this, please?”

Derek nods though Stiles doesn't see his action.

Stiles waits another long while before opening his mouth again:

“When we still lived in New York, uh...there was some real messed up stuff going on in my house.” He sighs and rubs his thumb over Derek’s hand. “My dad had no idea what was even going on cuz he was working all the time, he was never home. So no one knew but me and…”

Stiles doesn’t outright mention his mother, he never does, but Derek recognises the way his heart jumps when he thinks about her. 

“Anyway…one of my teachers started to notice that there was something  _ up _ with me and so he confronted me about it. Started asking me all these questions about my home life and I freaked out because it was like he… _ knew _ , y’know? So, before he had a chance to call home about it, I…”  Stiles gulps and Derek can see that he is fighting back tears. “...I called my dad and told him everything, but I...didn't tell him the truth about who was doing these things to me.”

“You said it was the teacher,” Derek solemnly realises aloud.

Stiles slides his eyes closed again and his lip quivers as he nods.

“And yeah, everything eventually got straightened out…she was locked up,  I got kicked out of school, we moved, but...I ruined his life, Derek,” Stiles whimpers. “I told the  _ worst _ lie and destroyed a good man to protect an evil person.”

Derek is at a loss for words. He would tell Stiles that his actions were excusable because though she was his abuser, she was still his mother so of course he would want to instinctively protect her, but that sounds like he would be taking her side and that is the last thing he would ever do.

Stiles pulls his hands away from Derek and scoffs, “You can’t even say anything.”

“I don’t know what  _ to _ say,” Derek replies truthfully when Stiles turns away from him. "How do you apologise to someone you love for not protecting them before you even knew them?”

Stiles turns his head to faces Derek again and he shuffles closer to retake Stiles’ hand.

“Nothing like that is ever gonna happen again as long as I’m around.”

Stiles softly sighs, “Kinda awkward that that’s like word for word what my dad told me.” He reaches out to stroke his hand over Derek’s chin. “But I appreciate it, all the same.”

He leans over to give Derek a kiss before pulling back and looking him in the eyes.

“I love you too.”

Derek dips his head to hide a grin. “I didn’t know if you heard me.”

Stiles scoffs and jokes, “How could I not, you were being so loud about it.”

Derek laughs and Stiles pulls him in. He turns his lips up, expecting another kiss but Stiles rests his head on his shoulder. They sit like that for a long while with their arms around each other until Stiles takes a deep breath and raises his head.

“I don’t want to but...I should really take you home now,” he says.

Derek sighs, “I don’t think you should be alone.”

“I’ll be fine.” Stiles rubs his thumb over Derek's lower lip. “C’mon.”

\- -

Talia is tearing up by the end of Paige's solo, which makes Cora stare over at her from Laura's lap, her gold eyes flashing in response to their Alpha's strong emotion. Their father notices and takes care to lean forward just enough that Paige's parents, sitting next to them in the front row, don't notice when everyone stands up to applaud as Paige bows onstage.

Derek engulfs Paige in a hug as soon she steps outside the auditorium where he and the rest of his family, along with her parents were waiting for her to exit backstage.

"I told you you would do great!" Derek says as Paige’s father kisses the top of her head.

"Yeah," Paige beams. “You did.”

"You made Mom cry." Laura adds, leaning down to hug Paige next.

“Oh, I'm sorry!" Paige exclaims, moving to hug Talia as well.

"No, it was beautiful honey really," She replies, smiling as she wraps her arms around the girl.

Paige smiles even wider with the praise.

“I think we should take our musician here out for ice cream, huh?” Laura says, swinging her arm around Paige’s shoulders.

“Oh no,” Paige’s mother replies sweetly before she can respond. “She has a Biology test tomorrow and should really get back to studying.”

“Oh,” Talia says, arching her eyebrow at Derek at the same time that his father tilts his head.

Derek chuckles nervously and Laura stifles a snicker.

Talia purses her lips as she turns back to Paige and reaches up to brush the hair out of her own face. “Well you have a good night, honey, and we’ll do ice cream some other time.”

“Thank you guys so much for coming.” Paige says as she leans in to hug the Hales until she reaches Derek then whispers, “Call me,” in his ear.

He nods and avoids the accusatory gazes he gets from his parents when he pulls away.

“You’re in trouble,” Laura sings in his ear as they walk away from Paige and her family.

Talia takes Derek’s phone as soon as they step into the house, despite his frown, then sends him up to his room to study.

He falls asleep on top of his textbook.

\- -

Stiles drops backwards onto the locker next to Derek's in the middle of the half-empty hallway.

“Hey.”

Derek smiles, “Hey.”

"Guess what?"

"What?"

"I didn't tell you this before but, my dad went and got himself a lady friend."

Derek nods slowly. "Good for him."

“Yeah, I’m real happy for him.” Stiles mimics Derek’s action. “Especially now that they’re going out next weekend, which, pretty much leaves me with the house all to myself…maybe for the whole night if everything goes well.”

Derek pauses as he stuffs his book bag into his locker when he realizes what Stiles is getting at.

He hums. "What if he gets a call?"

“Then the deputies handle it,” Stiles scoffs. "What's the worst that could happen in this town?"

Derek pushes his locker closed then leans his shoulder against it, facing Stiles.

"You'd be surprised," he says.

" _ Please _ ." Stiles licks his lips then taps Derek on his chest. "So? "

" _ Next _ weekend?" He stalls.

"Yeah," Stiles says as he reaches out to tug at a button on Derek’s shirt, pulling him closer. "I mean...you said you wanted to come over and spend a little more time, so...I just thought I’d put it out there."

"Yeah," Derek smiles. "I—”

“Dude!” Paige calls as she comes around the corner. She walks up and flicks Derek on the arm with her fingers. “What happened to ‘Call me’?”

He shakes his head. “My mom said I should study so she took my phone all night.”

Paige sighs heavily then she flicks her gaze between the two boys. “Am I interrupting something?”

Derek starts, “Uhh,” as Stiles purses his lips.

“Okay.” Paige pats them both on their shoulders then stage-whispers, “I’m gonna go over here,” before stepping across the hall to her own locker.

Stiles chuckles at her.

Derek clears his throat, catching Stiles’ attention again. “Look, I…I’d really love to come over but I don’t think I’m gonna make it.” He grits his teeth as he watches Stiles try to fight a frown. “My family has plans next weekend and if I try to break them, my mom’ll—”

“Hey,” he reaches out for Derek’s hand and smiles. “It’s totally fine, man, I get it.” He shrugs. “They’ll go on other dates and the last thing I want is for you to feel rushed or whatever.”

Derek raises his brow. “Rushed into spending time at your house?”

“Well…” Stiles laughs softly and looks away. “Y’know…something... _ else _ might happen.”

Derek purses his lips to stop himself from grinning as he listens to Stiles’ heartbeat start to pick up. “Something... _ else _ ?”

“I  _ dunno _ !” Stiles hangs his head backwards and laughs nervously. "I'll let you know if my dad goes on another date, alright?" He whispers before waving goodbye to Paige as she stands across the hall, up against her locker, looking away from them and pretending not to listen.

“Is this another one of your weird Hale whatevers?” She asks as Stiles walks away.

Derek rolls his eyes. "Didn’t your parents ever teach you not to eavesdrop?”

“Didn’t yours ever teach you not to talk so loud?” She retorts, pushing at his shoulder.

He snorts.

“So he seemed pretty disappointed,” Paige comments over the sound of the ringing bell as they head down the hall to Biology. “But like he said, there’ll be other chances.”

“He wants to have sex,” Derek says blatantly.

Paige blinks. “You've been having sex this whole time.”

"Yeah but not like...any penetrative stuff."

Paige takes a deep breath. "Do your dicks not penetrate each other's mouths?"

Derek sighs, "It's  _ different _ ."

She scoffs. “Have you talked about it?”

He shakes his head. “No.”

“That’s probably the best course of action here then.”

“What if he just wants to go with the flow?"

"Don't say that, that sounds weird." She exaggerates a shudder and Derek laughs.

“I um, I tried to hint at it when I was over at his house the other day but—”

She turns a glare on him. “I thought you went there to have dinner with his dad.”

“I was and we  _ did _ , but Stiles’ dad left on a call.”

“Oh okay good.” She shakes her head. “I know you two like to do your thing where anyone could just walk up and see you, which, have I told you how dumb that is?” Derek answers in the affirmative under Paige’s voice as she continues, “But while his dad was there would’ve been the absolute stupidest thing literally  _ ever _ .”

He nods as he holds the classroom door open for her.

“And I’m glad it didn’t happen,” she adds.

"Not for a lack of my trying," Derek mutters and Paige shakes her head as they take their seats.

\- -

Derek holds the talisman tightly in his hand as he chants the words. His father watches, eyes flashing a rich gold when he senses Derek's resolve waning.

"Keep it up!" he barks, folding his arms across his chest.

"It  _ hurts _ !" Derek grunts back.

"Alpha, Beta, Omega," His father demands, ignoring Derek's complaint.

"Alpha, B-Beta...O—” Derek takes a deep breath and he can feel his fangs pushing through his gums. "Omega."

His dad made him run through the woods surrounding their house, all the while throwing pebbles at his head from the tops of the trees or snapping branches at his face to piss him off enough for Derek to let his wolf scratch the surface before pushing the talisman into his chest, telling him to chant through his harsh breaths. He hates that his father stands over him, utterly unbothered and barely sweating.

"Alpha, Beta, Omega," Derek says then falls to his knees. "Alpha, Beta, Omega."

His father looks to the sky and Derek aches to attach his newly arisen fangs to his father's bared throat and rip until he tastes their shared blood.

"Alpha, Beta, Omega."

"The full moon is coming soon," he says before looking back down at Derek with his soft brown eyes. "Wouldn't you rather be in the house instead of in that musty old bunker?"

Derek bows his head and mutters the words, squeezing tight enough on the talisman to leave angry red marks in his palms.

His father crouches in front of him and places a hand on his shoulder, his wrist just in reach of Derek's teeth.

"Alpha, Beta, Omega."

"Think about Cora," his father says and Derek can't help that his feral mind reels over how tender she must be, so new and soft, juicy.

He immediately shuts his eyes against the thought and starts chanting faster.

"You don't want to hurt her, do you?"

Derek shakes his head frantically.

"Then try just a little bit harder." His father's hand grips his shoulder. "You did it last time and it only gets easier, kiddo, you've got this."

Derek sobs.

His father starts chanting with him, softer, just under his own voice. Before he knows it, Derek is relaxing, his breath and heart rate slowing. His father grips his shoulder again and Derek opens his eyes to see a shining smile before those lips are pressing to his forehead.

"There," his father says softly before patting the side of Derek's head. "C'mon, let's go tell your mom the good news."

"Wait," Derek grunts, grabbing his father's arm. "Can we go for a little longer?"

His father furrows his brow. "Starving for punishment, are we?"

"I..." Derek gulps. "…I wanna make sure I got it."

He gets a proud grin and a light slap on the shoulder.

Derek places the talisman in his father’s palm when he holds his hand out for it.

"Let's go then."


	7. Dream

Derek understands why it's necessary but that doesn't mean he likes being chained to the bunker wall, especially since he and his father had been working so hard to help him gain control.

He had fixed a pleading gaze on his father when Laura approached him with the chains. _But...I've been getting better, you said so yourself_ ! He cried, only to deflate when his father replied, _Getting better doesn't mean you've got it down pat_.

So here he is in the dank bunker, the single roof light buzzing above, waiting as Talia secures his wrists in one of the sets of shackles bolted to the wall while Laura attaches the set at his ankles.

Derek remembers the nights he spent down here with Laura, before she gained full control of herself. He doesn't remember her taking as long.

"How do you feel?" Talia asks, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder.

He feels like the rising moon is in the bunker with him, dragging its way over his skin.

"I feel fine," he lies through clenched teeth. "Like I shouldn't be down here."

His mother and sister stare silently at him then glance at each other.

“Definitely next time, sweetheart,” Talia tells him.

He grumbles, “Or maybe I'll be getting chained down here for the rest of my life.”

Derek thinks he might still be down here when Cora is old enough to do real damage on a full moon, instead of crying and growling like a disgruntled puppy in her cage. If their father wasn’t so busy concentrating on her then maybe he would focus more on trying to get his son in control.

“Hey, you still with us?” Laura snaps her fingers near his face.

He notes that it would take just another inch for him to lunge forward and snap them off between his teeth.

“I’m _fine_.” Derek turns his head, stretching his neck as he starts to notice how hot his skin feels. “It's hot.”

“You thirsty?” Laura chuckles, “You want me to get your doggy bowl?” and Derek sneers at her.

There is a clatter as Talia pulls a checkers board from the bottom of the box by the table across from him.

“The pieces for that are long gone Mom,” Laura remarks, stepping over to Talia.

She hums then drops it back in the box. The sound of it falling makes Derek's ears ring and he snarls, which makes the others look over at him. With a sigh, he closes his eyes and tries to focus on his other senses as he repeats the chant in his mind, not wanting to let the others hear the quake he knows would be in his voice.

He thinks he can hear the blood throbbing through his mother and sister’s bodies but realizes that it's his own pulse roaring in his ears. He can't smell anything but the mold in the bunker and the steel securing him to the wall. He listens to the sound of the wind in the trees and tries to imagine what it looks like outside, the sight of the moonlight peeking through the trees as they shift in the wind.

His mother says something he doesn't catch because a faint, but familiar sound grabs his attention.

Derek opens his gold eyes, expecting to see his mother and sister across the room from him but he doesn't see them, doesn’t see the bunker walls. He sees trees, exactly how he had imagined them, with the moonlight peeking through the shifting leaves. He crouches to touch the soft ground beneath his feet and noticed that his wrists are unshackled.

The hum of the Camaro’s engine reaches his ears again and he immediately chases it.

The Camaro doesn't seem to be getting any closer no matter how hard and fast Derek runs; His feet crushing leaves and twigs on the forest floor almost drown out the sound of it. It isn't until he is through the trees that he notices another set of footsteps echoing his own.

His stomach clenches when he realizes it’s another wolf and it’s chasing the same thing that he is.

Derek hears tires screech to a stop but he doesn’t see a car when he reaches Stiles’ house.

Claws and teeth bared, he growls in the direction of the still-approaching wolf's footfalls and they immediately go silent. But Derek remains, senses on high alert, ready to attack, to protect.

Movement at the corner of his eye catches Derek’s attention and he growls at the would-be intruder hanging around Stiles’ window. Derek leaps onto the roof and prepares to launch  himself at the intruder but the space he had occupied is empty. Derek stands before the window, checking to make to sure it's closed. The shutters are drawn up and the room within is dark. He can see his own reflection in the glass but there is another face under his own: Stiles’. His brown eyes are opened wide and his mouth is ajar as he looks back at Derek.

Something strikes Derek hard in the side of the head and he pitches left, but instead of landing against the roof tiles, Derek’s head lands against something soft.

He groans into the surface then lurches away from it and finds himself staring at his crumpled pillow.

Confused, Derek looks around his sunlit bedroom. He takes a deep breath and rubs his eyes as he climbs out of bed.

“There he is,” Laura says as soon as he steps into the kitchen. “I thought we needed to break out the air horn to wake you.”

“Morning sweetheart,” Talia coos as she feeds Cora.

“Morning,” Derek yawns then runs his palm over Cora's head before falling heavily into the chair next to his mother's.

“Something wrong?” She asks.

Derek shakes his head. “I just had a weird dream. I thought—”

“Ah, ah,” his father starts when he walks into the kitchen, wearing his scrubs. “You can tell us later, honey, it's time to get ready for school.”

\- -

“You’re mad, I can tell.”

Paige is pouting and Derek is rolling his eyes.

“It’s _fine_ ,” he says, looking her straight in the eyes.

She taps her fingertips against the table. “You _hate_ music but you didn’t miss my recital and I _love_ basketball but I’m gonna miss your first game of the season. How is that _fine_?”

He frowns. “I don’t hate music.”

Paige groans.

“It’s just a scrimmage.” He pats her hand to stop the movement. “The season doesn't start ‘til next semester and besides, I might not even play.”

She blinks. “Aren’t you in line to be captain?”

Derek purses his lips.

“See!”

“Look,” he sighs, “your family’s been planning this trip for what, a year?”

“Three years.”

“Thr—wait, _really_?”

She shrugs and rests her chin in her palm. “You know how my dad is.”

“Okay, so your family’s been planning this trip for three years. You can’t just bail because you wanna go to _one_ basketball game. It’s not like you won’t be there for the real ones.”

“But it’s the _first one_.”

“It’s _just_ a scrimmage.”

“B—”

“Paige.” He reaches out to hold her by the shoulders. “I swear I’m not mad but there’s a chance that I’m gonna _get_ mad if you don’t quit.”

She shrugs his hands off her shoulders and grumbles, “I bet you’d be upset if _Stiles_ missed your first game.”

Derek rolls his eyes again but then looks around the garden patio.

“Speaking of...have you seen Stiles today?”

He had noticed Stiles’ absence earlier but had assumed that he was just busy with his assigned duties and simply didn't have time to find Derek. He usually appears around lunchtime but lunch is almost over and there is no sign of him, so Derek becomes concerned.

“Uh,” Paige looks at the door leading into the cafeteria, as if expecting Stiles to walk through it at Derek’s words. “Yeah, no I haven’t, now that you mention it.”

Derek pulls his phone out of his pocket. He doesn't find a text from Stiles so he sends one of his own.

He doesn't receive a reply by the end of the school day and it makes Derek even more uneasy, so he asks Paige to take him to Stiles’ house after school. He calls Laura on the way, to let her know where he is going so she won't get anxious when he isn't waiting in the parking lot for her to pick him up. She scoffs and tells him to be careful.

It isn’t until Paige pulls up in front of Stiles’ house that Derek remembers the dream he had last night.

“What’s wrong?” She asks when she notices him not getting out of the car.

Derek shakes his head, “Nothing,” then takes a deep breath.

“Okay,” she replies warily. “So do you want me to come back later or…”

“No, that’s fine.” He waves her off and grabs his book bag from the back seat. “I’ll call Laura.”

“Okay, be safe,” she says when he closes the car door behind himself.

Derek stares up at Stiles’ house for the first time in the daylight as Paige pulls away from the curb. He considers his dream as he walks toward the door and nervousness washes over him when he raises his hand to knock.

He listens closely for Stiles’ heartbeat and finds it sluggish. Derek squeezes the strap on his book bag then balls his hand into a fist and knocks again.

Finally he hears another slow thudding inside the house: footsteps approaching the door.

After unlatching, the door opens to reveal Stiles and Derek sighs heavily when he sees him.

Stiles leans his head against the doorjamb and softly sighs, “Hey, big guy.”

“Are you okay?”

"I think I caught something from school.” Stiles furrows his brow and reaches up to rub his eyes. “Speaking of, shouldn't you be _in_ school?'

Derek frowns at him. “School's _over_.”

Stiles blinks slowly then turns his head to look back into the house.

“So it is.” He clears his throat and smirks, “You missed me, huh?”

“I was worried,” Derek tells him. “You weren’t there and you weren’t answering your phone so I thought…” He shakes his head. “...I don’t know what I thought. I was just worried.”

Stiles hums and reaches out to cover Derek’s hand where his fingers are still clutching his bag strap.

“Do you wanna come in?” He asks after a moment. “My dad’s at work.”

Derek nods and Stiles shifts out of the way to let him inside. Stiles closes and locks the door behind them then reaches up to scratch the back of his head.

“You’re cool to hang out down here if you want but—” He points to the ceiling. “—I’m gonna go lie back down.”

“Can I come with you?” Derek shrugs the bag off his shoulders and sets it on the floor by the stairs.

The corner of Stiles’ lips turn up with a smile. “Okay, but no funny business.”

Derek stands by the bed, phone in his hands, updating Paige and Laura while Stiles drops face-first and groans into the mattress.

He sighs then moves his head to look at Derek.

“Are you weird about maybe getting sick?”

Derek almost laughs, “No,” as he pushes his phone back into his pocket toes the shoes off his feet.

Stiles shuffles over and Derek climbs into the bed with him.

“Your bed’s really warm,” he remarks as Stiles molds himself to his side.

He mutters, “I think I have a fever,” into Derek’s ear.

“ _You_ don’t feel warm.”

Stiles hums, “But _you_ do,” as he swings his arm over Derek’s chest then his knee over Derek’s leg.

Derek clears his throat when he feels Stiles press against his hip.

“I thought you said no funny business.”

“I did.”

“And yet…”

Stiles shakes his head. “Ignore it.”

He looks over to find that Stiles has his eyes closed. He searches Stiles’ face, watches him breathe, listens to his heartbeat.

“You’re sure?”

Stiles snickers, “Yes.”

They aren’t lying there long before Derek notices Stiles’ breathing getting deeper.

He shifts onto his side and rests his hand along Stiles’ jaw.

He had only seen his mother take someone's pain once and had tried when Cora was keeping him up at night with her shrieking cries while she was teething. He was successful then but he finds himself failing now. Frustrated, Derek raises his hand and flashes his fingers then lays it on Stiles’ cheek again. He purses his lips and concentrates as hard as he can, but nothing happens. He huffs and, giving up, buries his face under Stiles’ chin.

Derek is alert the second he feels the bed shift under him.

"Bathroom," Stiles whispers, patting Derek on the thigh as he climbs over him to get off the bed. "Go back to sleep."

Derek hadn’t even realized that he had closed his eyes but it’s hours later and there’s barely any light coming into the room through the window by the bed.

He reaches into his pocket to pull out his phone. He finds a picture text from Paige captioned with a series of exclamation points that he ignores and one from Laura that reads, _Make sure u use protection and lemme kno when to come get u_. Derek closes his phone when Stiles steps back into the room.

“Should you be getting home?” Stiles asks as he climbs into bed. Derek can smell mouthwash on his breath. “Do I need to take you home?” He reiterates, his lips brushing Derek’s ear and making him shiver.

“No.” He sets his phone under the pillow his head rests on. “Laura knows where I am so I can stay ‘til your dad gets here.”

Stiles groans, “Please don't mention my dad when you're lying in bed with me.”

Derek snorts, “What should we talk about then.”

“Well, there's good news,” Stiles says as he grasps Derek’s chin between his thumb and forefinger. “My fever broke.”

Derek smiles, “That _is_ good news.”

“And in even better news...” Stiles continues, shifting his shoulders. “ _You're_ here and _I'm_ here and we're _both_ here...in my bed.”

Derek snickers, “What happened to ‘No funny business’?”

“That was then,” Stiles replies, climbing over Derek and wiggling his eyebrows. “This is now.”

Grinning, Derek runs his fingers through the hair at the back of Stiles’ head.

“I _did_ miss you today by the way,” he says softly.

Stiles leans down to brush their noses together.

“I missed you too,” he replies, hovering over Derek’s lips.

He pushes Derek’s thighs apart with his knees before he leans down to give him a kiss.

Derek sighs and wraps his arms around Stiles’ neck as they swipe their tongues through each other’s mouths. He pulls in a shaky breath when Stiles raises his hips and slides his hand between them to start opening Derek’s jeans. He moves his hands to Stiles’ shoulders when he breaks the kiss to pull Derek’s jeans and his underwear to his thighs.

Stiles chews his lower lip as he pushes Derek’s shirt up his chest then runs the tip of his tongue against Derek’s nipple.

Derek whines, “Come back,” as he runs his hand through the hair at the top of Stiles’ head.

Stiles pushes his pajama bottoms down his hips before fitting his lips over Derek’s again.

Their bodies lay bare against each other and Derek could feel every inch of Stiles on his abdomen. Derek moans when Stiles grinds his hips and Stiles eats the sound out of his mouth. He slides his hand between them again to grasp both their dicks together in his palm. Stiles starts moving his hips and Derek grips onto Stiles’ shirt with both hands.

Stiles kisses the corner of Derek’s lips then moves to nip his ear.

“Stiles,” Derek shudders and runs his nails over the flesh of Stiles’ back as he ardently chases his release.

Stiles’ body shakes and his breath is heavy on Derek’s neck as he spurts between them.

Derek feels Stiles’ cum pooling between their sweat-slick bodies and bites down on Stiles’ shoulder as he adds to the mess.

Stiles yelps and falls off the bed when he jerks away.

Derek panics when he hears the thud and surges up to find Stiles sitting on the floor. The sight of him sitting there, his pajamas still at his thighs would make a funny picture if not for the dread reflected back at him on Stiles’ face.

“You bit me.”

“I'm _so_ sorry,” Derek cries as he swings his legs off the bed.

His stomach falls when he watches Stiles shift away from him.

Derek stutters, “I-I didn't mean to.”

Stiles gulps then pushes himself to his feet and pulls up his pajamas.

“Uhh…” Stiles reaches up to scratch the back of his head again. “My dad's gonna be back soon so you should probably head out.”

Derek blanches. “W-I can't go _now_ , you're—”

“I'm _fine_ , Derek,” he interrupts then takes a deep breath. “C'mon, you can't let my dad catch you here.”

Derek clenches his jaw. He grabs his phone from underneath the pillow and fixes his jeans but then he just stands there with his shoulders slumped.

“Stiles…” He starts then halts when headlights momentarily shine through Stiles’ bedroom window.

Stiles exhales deeply and turns to Derek with a frown.

Derek purses his lips then moves to the window. He stops with his hands on the latch and turns in time to see Stiles pushing the collar of his shirt away to look at his bare shoulder. Derek chews on his lower lip until Stiles notices his hesitation and lets his hand fall to his side.

“You’re sure you’re not mad?” he asks.

Stiles steps toward Derek and kisses his forehead, then his lips.

Derek can tell the smile he gets is forced and his stomach lurches but he lifts the window and climbs through it.

He doesn't call his sister to pick him up because he doesn’t want to have to answer her questions again. So he walks home, despite the weakness in his knees.

He can hear Laura rustling around in the basement and Cora scratching her new teeth on the oak bars of her crib when he walks into the house. He makes his way to the upstairs bathroom and locks the door behind him.

Derek wipes his hand down the fogged mirror and half expects the look on Stiles’ face when he fell off the bed to be reflected back at him, since it’s the only thing that he could think of during his shower. He doesn't know what came over him. Being there in Stiles’ twilit bedroom, saturated in his scent, covered by his body, his lips, the two of them rubbing against each other... He was overstimulated and his reaction was apparently the worst he could have had.

Laura is standing in the doorway when he opens it. The steam inside the bathroom billows passed her as she rests her palms against the doorframe, trapping him.

“What happened?” she asks softly but with a knowing look on her face.

He can't stop his lower lip from quivering before answering, “I screwed up.”

Laura’s face falls.


	8. Game

He wishes Paige was here. That was the first thought he had as he headed toward the locker rooms and that’s all he can think about as he changes into his jersey.

His teammates are hyped up for the unofficial start of the season. They’re all yelling and fist or chest bumping each other but Derek can’t seem to bring himself to join them.

Stiles hasn't been back to school this week, not since what Laura keeps referring to as ‘the incident’. He didn't even come the next day to return Derek’s book bag after he had forgotten about it at the bottom of Stiles’ stairs. He asked Paige to bring it to Derek.

Derek wants to call or text but every time he picks up his phone, he puts it back down because he doesn’t know what to say, doesn’t know how to apologize for that sort of thing, doesn’t want Stiles to tell him that it’s over.

“Alright men,” the coach barks and everyone immediately quiets down. “I know that this is just a scrimmage but it’s also the first chance we get to kick some Devenfort ass before the season even starts, so who’s with me?!”

Derek’s heart starts to race as his teammates’ voices bounce off the concrete walls of the locker room. They start the usual pre-game chant as they march en masse out of the locker room but Derek doesn’t follow them.

The number 12 player notices and turns back to rest his hand on Derek’s upper back.

“You okay man?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Derek lies. He doesn’t look up at Raleigh because he doesn’t want his friend to see his eyes. He takes a deep breath. “I’ll be there in a little bit.”

The hand pats his shoulders then slides away.

Derek moves for the showers as soon as the locker room door slams closed. He turns one on full blast and stands underneath it, letting the freezing cold water run over his head and shoulders.

“Alpha, beta, omega,” he mutters to himself.

He rests his forehead on the chilly shower wall when he starts to shiver. He chastises himself for not remembering to bring the talisman but tries his best to keep up the chant without it. Something by his ear cracks and Derek opens his eyes to find that his claws has dug into a tile on the wall. It makes him acutely aware of how out of control he is becoming.

Derek throws his head back and howls, loud enough that his family would hear him over the distance and the excited voices of spectators and players.

He doesn’t know how long he is standing there—the water running over his face as he tries to ignore the pain of his bones shifting—before he hears voices and footsteps making their ways toward the locker room.

After a while, the door doesn’t open and they don’t come in so Derek’s heart manages to beat even faster. He falls to his knees and growls as his fangs push free of his gums.

Finally, he hears the door sliding open but it isn’t his mother or sister’s voices that calls out to him.

Derek turns to peek around the corner of the shower to see that his ears were not deceiving him.

Stiles is hovering at the doorway but Derek can hear a familiar pair of heartbeats behind him. He starts toward the shower and Derek sits with his back against the wall.

“Uh...” Stiles starts, “...your mom and sister made me come in here to find out what’s going on with you so...what’s going on with you?”

“Stiles...” Derek winces at the ache in his jaws. “You need to leave,  _ please _ .”

“Look,” Stiles scoffs, “I know we haven’t talked in a couple days but I’m not gonna abandon you in your time of need or whatever.”

His footsteps halt at the edge of the showers and Derek quickly crawls backwards to the corner.

“I need my  _ mom _ ,” Derek snarls then claps his hand over his mouth.

“I know,” Stiles replies with a grunt as he sits on the floor. “But she’s a little busy right now so you're stuck with me.”

Derek hangs his head.

“So how about I just sit here with you until...until you feel better.”

The only part of Stiles that Derek can see is his arm, covered with his leather jacket and it reminds Derek about the freezing water coursing out of the showerhead. He stands to shut it off, making sure to turn his back when he stands before the handle so Stiles won’t see his eyes. He doesn’t return to the corner of the shower, instead he stands next to where Stiles is sitting and staring out into the dark locker room.

“Why did you come?” he says softly.

“Laura’s  _ very  _ persuasive.”

“No.” Derek closes his eyes. “I mean tonight. Why did you come tonight?”

“Oh,” Stiles grunts again as he slides himself back up the wall. “I wasn’t gonna miss your game.”

“I thought you were mad at me.”

A second passes before Stiles replies, “What, over the bite thing? No, I...I was doped up on headache medicine so I was acting like an idiot.”

“It was my fault,” Derek whispers as he inches closer to the edge so he and Stiles are almost shoulder to shoulder. “I should've asked.”

“You were in the heat of the moment, I can't blame you for that.” Derek smiles and listens as Stiles takes a deep breath. “Besides...it only freaked me out because I thought if you bit me that I wouldn’t...be myself anymore y’know?”

Derek’s skin prickles and stares with wide eyes when Stiles turns around the corner to face him.

“But then I did some research that cleared my anxiety right up,” he laughs softly and Derek has to catch his breath. “Getting bitten by a beta wolf doesn’t affect you all, turns out.” 

“You…” Derek chokes and starts to back deeper into the shower again when he imagines that his worst-case scenario is real. “You  _ knew _ ? How did you know? How long have you known?”

Stiles smirks, “I mean, I’ve told you I’m a genius right?”

Derek furrows his brow and gulps when he hits the wall. His heart slowly starts to pick up speed again as he looks at Stiles, prepares himself to fight back if he is attacked.

“Okay, look,” Stiles holds his palms up to Derek. “I'll tell you but you gotta get out of those clothes first.”

Derek huffs, “Now is  _ really _ not the time, Stiles.”

“No,” Stiles laughs. “I just mean — ” He glances off to the side then disappears out of Derek’s view. He returns with a towel clutched in his hand. “ — I just mean that looking at you is making  _ me _ cold.”

Derek takes a deep breath and Stiles holds out the other hand to him. He flicks his fingers in beckoning and Derek hesitates but he goes, pushing away from the wall and right into the towel when Stiles holds it open for him.

Stiles rubs the rough towel over Derek’s arms as he says, “Okay...well, I knew something was up when you took that big ol’ whiff of me in the car that first night and how you're like  _ always _ sniffing the air around me, even when you think I don’t notice and sometimes  _ you _ probably don't even notice.”

Derek chews the corner of his lip and imagines Laura on the other side of the door listening and trying not to laugh at Stiles’ observation.

“You also heal freaky fast,” Stiles continues as he runs the towel under Derek’s jersey, drying his chest then makes his way around to Derek’s back. “And I don’t just mean that time I  _ know _ I saw the knife in the sink slice you open, but also every hickey is gone like...immediately.”

He sighs deeply and drops the towel onto the nearest bench when he faces Derek again to find him frowning. 

“To be fair, I could’ve ignored  _ all _ of that but then there's this thing you did where you showed up at my window in the middle of the night with glowing yellow eyes and freakin’ fangs, dude!”

Derek is taken aback by that revelation.

He chokes, “I...thought that was a dream...”

“Yeah no,” Stiles shakes his head. “Unless we had the same one...from opposite sides of the window. Oh!” He snaps his fingers then points one at Derek’s face. “And when you came over the other night, you had ripped through the back of my shirt so you owe me a sh — ”

His sentence halts when Derek turns away from him and starts toward the locker room door.

Derek finds his sister standing by herself at the other end of the hallway, up against the wall, swiping her fingers over her phone.

"I got out?” he starts in an accusatory tone that makes Laura arch her eyebrow at him as he stomps toward her. “I got out and nobody told me? I could’ve  _ killed _ my boyfriend and you let me believe that it was a dream?”

Laura sighs and places the phone in her pocket as she pushes away from the wall.

“I didn’t know you thought it was a dream,” she scoffs. “And besides you weren’t gonna kill him, he’s your anchor.”

Derek deflates. It hadn’t even occurred to him until Laura says the word, but then it couldn’t be any more obvious. Except for ‘the incident’, Derek had never let himself get too out of control when he was with Stiles. Even just then in the locker room, he was in the middle of a stressed-induced shift but then as soon as he heard Stiles’ voice, his wolf balked.

“His anchor?” Stiles asks as he approaches them and stands at Derek’s shoulder. “What does that mean, I’m your anchor?”

He purses his lips and turns to Stiles.

“Yeah, it means...it means you keep me human.”

“Basically,” Laura adds with a shrug.

“So then, you won’t go all mythical beast on the full moon anymore?”

“Not exactly, it’ll just be easier to control...as long as you're with me.”

“Yeah,” Stiles reaches out and takes Derek’s hand. “I’m with you.”

Derek squeezes Stiles’ hand before facing his sister again.

“How did you know?”

Laura sighs, “I want to say that it was a wild guess but it was kinda obvious in the way you took off from the house.” She shakes her head. “I had never in all your life seen you run that fast for anything and I definitely didn’t expect that you would break the cuffs apart. It was like you couldn’t think of anything but getting to Stiles like...”

“Like he was in danger!” Derek exclaims. “That’s right, I remember now, there was another wolf chasing him.”

“No...” Stiles starts and they both look over at him. “I don’t know what you sensed or whatever but...if you thought I was in danger or pain, it was probably because I was having a panic attack.”

Derek search Stiles’ eyes. “Because of her?”

Stiles nods almost imperceptibly then the corner of his twitches into a smile. “I held my breath when I saw you so...you saved me.”

Derek leans closer to press his lips to Stiles’ temple.

Laura clears her throat. "Yeah, you probably heard  _ me  _ cos I was running my ass off trying to catch you before Mom found out you were gone.”

“As if you could hide that from me,” came Talia’s voice before she appeared around the corner. “To be fair, your sister couldn't exactly stop you from running when she was out of the room on her phone instead of watching you.”

Laura turns her head and grumbles, “I had only left for like a minute.”

Talia strokes her hand down the back of Laura’s head.

"Speaking of leaving, this isn’t exactly the best place to be discussing this.”

“Mom,” Derek starts, “I can’t just leave, we’re in the middle of a game.”

“I told your coach you weren’t feeling well,” Talia replies with a nonchalant shrug.

She puts her arm around him and turns to step around the corner again. Laura and Stiles follow behind, his hand still firmly grasped in Derek’s.


	9. Home

“Are you  _ sure  _ this doesn’t bother you?” Derek asks as they approach his house in the light of the setting sun.

Stiles takes a deep breath of the forest air and sinks his hands into his own pockets.

“Yeah dude, who else can say that they’re dating a werewolf?”

Derek smacks his lips. “Camden.”

He doesn’t see Stiles roll his eyes but he knows it happened.

“Does Camden know the Hale family secret?”

Derek shakes his head as he crushes a pine cone under his sneaker. 

“Is Laura just gonna let him figure it out too?”

“I didn’t  _ let  _ you figure it out, you did that all on your own.”

“Yeah, I did,” Stiles chuckles. “So is he her anchor?”

“No, Laura learned how to control her shift on her own.”

“‘Control her shift’,” Stiles repeats. “Love all this new jargon.”

Derek pushes Stiles’ shoulder. 

“So,” Stiles clears his throat. “What was  _ your  _ anchor before I came along?”

Derek sighs, “We have this, like, talisman with a triskelion imprinted on it that we use to try to focus whenever our animal side is trying to overpower our human side.”

“Oh.” Stiles nods. “How does it work?”

“We just…” Derek holds his hand up and curls his fingers as if holding the talisman. “...grab it and say ‘Alpha, Beta, Omega’ over and over until it doesn’t—until you feel like yourself again.” He drops his hand and shrugs. “It doesn’t always work.”

“And when it didn’t, would you strip out of all your clothes and run through the trees?”

Derek snickers, “You wish,” as he hops up the steps leading up to the porch.

He doesn’t hear Stiles’ breathing behind him and turns to find Stiles still standing at the bottom of the steps. He’s looking around the front yard and Derek follows his gaze.

“What’s wrong?” he asks warily.

Stiles faces him again and grins, “Just thinking,” as he starts up the steps.

Derek furrows his brow. “About?”

"What it would been like to suck you off you in the middle of the woods with no one around but us.”

He backs Derek up against the door and forces his breath out of him.

“My family’s gonna be home any minute and they’d...”

Derek whines when Stiles start kissing his neck.

“We can go upstairs,” Stiles mutters into his skin.

“Cora’s upstairs.”

Stiles pulls away and faces him with narrowed eyes. “She’s a  _ baby _ , she won’t know what’s going on.”

“Yeah, but she’s probably awake and even werewolf babies need to be fed and whatever.”

Stiles pouts, which makes Derek smile softly and run his thumb over Stiles’ lips.

“We can put your superpower to use later,” he says.

“Promise?”

“Promise.” He plants a kiss on Stiles’ still-pouting lips then faces the door again and pulls the key out of his pocket. “Welcome to my humble abode,” Derek mimics as he pushes the door open.

Stiles scoffs, “There’s nothing humble about this abode,” and steps in behind Derek.

Derek flicks the lights on then gestures into the living room.

“Have a seat,” he says as he starts up the stairs. “I’ll be right back.”

He hears Stiles sigh and the couch squeak when he reaches the top of the stairs. Cora’s eyes flash in the light from the hallway when he opens the door and she squeals when she sees him. She’s grabbing at the air by the time he steps over to her crib and pulls her out.

Stiles is sitting quietly on the couch across from the TV when Derek steps into the living room with Cora in his arms. He smiles and Cora turns her head to look up at Derek then back at Stiles.

“Hi Cora,” Stiles coos with a big grin as he stands away from the couch.

A growl starts building in her little chest as he approaches with his arms outstretched but Stiles doesn’t seem to notice.

Derek takes a step back before Stiles can scoop her up and likely get torn open.

“She’s not that good with strangers,” he explains when Stiles frowns.

“But...shouldn’t she be used my scent or whatever by now?” He scoffs, “Especially since I was groping you not five minutes ago...”

Derek shrugs in answer. “Maybe she’s just hungry.”

Cora buries her face in his neck.

“I’m gonna get her something to eat.”

He adjusts Cora on his arm as he turns to head toward the kitchen.

Cora almost leaps out of Derek’s grasp when she leans forward for her bottle as soon as Derek opens the refrigerator door.

“I guess you  _ were  _ hungry,” he mutters, closing the door again.

Cora laughs as she put the nipple of her bottle in her mouth.

Derek moves back into the living room to find Stiles on the floor in front of the TV. He has one of their DVDs in his hand.

"My dad loves this movie,” Stiles announces, without looking up from the rest of the collection. He shakes the case in his hand for Derek to see as he walks over to the couch. “He's gonna freak when I tell him you guys have it. I haven't seen it in a while."

“Do you wanna watch it?”

Stiles turns over his shoulder. “Do we have time?”

Derek shrugs and Stiles mirrors the action before turning back to the player.

“You wanna try holding her again?” Derek asks as he watches Cora finish off the last of the formula in her bottle.

“Uhh…” Stiles laughs nervously as he makes his way to the other end of the couch. “She won’t bite me?”

“I didn’t make any such promise.”

Stiles takes a deep breath then scoots closer and gingerly reaches out for her. She looks up at Derek and Stiles does the same. He gives her a smile when she looks back him. Cora throws her bottle in his lap.

Derek purses his lips to stop himself from laughing at Stiles’ dejected expression.

Stiles sighs, “It's not funny dude,” then frowns when Derek turns his face away. “Why doesn't she like me?”

“Could be anything.” He looks back at Cora when she grabs his chin. “She's not used to you. Could be because she just woke up so she's cranky.” He pulls her up to stand on wobbly legs in his lap. “Also, she probably knows her Alpha isn't around so she's being difficult on purpose.”

“Is that true?” Stiles says sweetly as he moves closer to Derek, close enough to be in Cora's line of sight. “Do you just miss your mommy?”

She stares at him but doesn't growl or even snarl.

“That's progress,” Derek remarks and Stiles makes a soft sound in the back of his throat.

Cora catches the sound too, Derek realizes, because she giggles when he makes it.

Stiles gasps and reaches out for her hand but something catches her attention and she turns away from both boys.

“Mom's home,” Derek announces then stands with Cora in his arms to go meet their mother at the door.

“Dude,” Stiles complains as he follows them. “She was just starting to warm up to me.”

Derek holds the door open for his mother with his free hand and Talia greets him with her hand on his cheek as she steps inside.

“Hello,” she sings to Cora before her eyes land on Stiles and makes his heart kick into overdrive. “Nice to see you again, Stiles,” she smiles as she takes Cora from Derek and hands him the bag of groceries.

Stiles gulps and clears his throat. “Hi, Mrs. Hale.”

“I didn’t know we were having guests,” she mutters to her son. “I would’ve made plans for a bigger dinner.”

Derek closes the door behind his mother and tells her, “He’s not staying for dinner, he just wanted to hang out.”

“Next time then.” She balances Cora on her hip as she takes the bag of groceries back from Derek. ”Did you give him a tour?”

“No, I...should I? We were gonna watch a movie.”

“Oh.” Talia shrugs then turns into the kitchen.

Stiles digs his hands into the pockets of his jacket and gives Derek a pursed lipped smile.

“Dude, seriously,” he whispers when Derek is close enough, “the women in your family are so intimidating.” Derek snorts and Stiles continues, “Even the baby.”

Stiles moves to sit on the couch and picks up the remote from the arm as Derek settles next to him. He rests one arm around Derek's shoulders when he leans into him as Stiles presses play.

They haven't sat through much of Mortal Kombat when Derek feels the side of Stiles' face fall against the top of his head.

He smiles, "If you’re asleep, you better not drool on my head."

Stiles scoffs, "I'm not sleeping, I’m  _ snuggling _ , you jerk.”

Derek laughs softly as he shifts to look up at Stiles. He gets a grin before Stiles presses their lips together.

They kiss while the movie plays in the background until the front door opens again.

“Gross,” is the only word out of Laura’s mouth when she steps into the house and spots the pair on the couch as they break apart.

She disappears into the kitchen and they hear a loud squeal from Cora.

Something vibrates between them and Stiles reaches into his pocket to pull out his phone and bring it to his ear.

He greets his father, “Hey Pop,” and makes Derek smile.

Derek hears the Sheriff tell Stiles that he’s on the way home.

“I’m at Derek’s,” Stiles tells his dad as he sinks deeper into the couch, “but I’ll be home soon.” After a moment, he sighs, “Okay, love you,” then hangs up. “I gotta go,” he tells Derek as he pushes himself up from the couch.

“I'll walk you out.”

They move toward the kitchen first so Stiles can say goodbye to Derek’s mom and sisters. The front door opens again as they leave the kitchen and Derek’s father walks in.

Derek can almost hear Stiles’ jaw clenching when they lock eyes.

“You must be Stiles,” Derek’s father says as he holds out his hand. “It’s nice to finally put a face to the scent.”

“Oh my God,” Derek mutters and hangs his head as heat rushes up his neck.

Stiles’ hand is steady when he reaches it out and clears his throat. “Nice to meet you too sir.”

He releases Stiles from his grip and asks, “Will you be staying for dinner?”

“No, I...I’m having dinner with my dad.”

“Well then I’m officially inviting you both over for dinner soon.” He looks over Stiles head at Talia. “It’s never a bad idea to befriend the Sheriff.”

Stiles lets out a soft laugh, echoed by Talia’s.

“Have a good night, Stiles,” He says before reaching out to take Derek by the back of the neck then kiss his forehead. “Hey buddy.”

“Hey Dad,” Derek smiles but doesn't meet his father's eyes before starting toward the front door again.

“Okay, I take it back,  _ everyone _ in your family is intimidating,” Stiles mutters as soon as they’re under the porch light, just as Derek hears his father declare, “Well, he’s nervous around us so that’s a good sign.” 

Derek snickers.

“I’m  _ serious _ .”

“I know.” He slides his hands into his jacket pockets to protect from the chilly night air.

“You know what we need?” Stiles asks as he rests both hands on Derek’s shoulders. “A date.”

Derek furrow his brow. “We've been on dates.”

Stiles raises his brows. “When? Where?”

“That time we went to...” Derek purses his lips. “Lydia’s party.  _ That _ was a date.”

Stiles narrows his eyes at him.

“Okay, it was worth a try.” Derek sighs, “Dude, we’ve never been on a date.”

Stiles jerks his head forward. “We’re  _ practically  _ not even boyfriends.”

Derek laughs.

“But doesn’t that sound so good?” Stiles squeezes Derek’s shoulders. “You and me alone for an undetermined amount of time, no parents, no Paige, no werewolf problems.”

“That  _ does _ sound good.”

“Yeah,” Stiles whispers then hums as he looks out into the trees. “Some flowers maybe? Candles are a must, and…” He faces Derek again. “Can you eat chocolate?”

Derek glares. “I’m not a  _ dog _ .”

“Well no, but...” Stiles shrugs. “...kind of?”

Derek scoffs and starts down the steps.

“Aw c’mon,” Stiles pleads from the porch before following. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Derek keeps walking in silence because Stiles will know he’s laughing if he says anything. He quickens his steps whenever he hears Stiles catching up, making Stiles chase him with apologies and complaints about how unfair Derek is being for making him run in the dark woods.

He glances over his shoulder to see this boy: this beautiful, bad, new boy, with his leather jacket and a frustrated crinkle on his brow. He hopes that that boy will be willing to chase him forever.


End file.
